Shadowing Death
by Sister of the Moon
Summary: Liason. This goes back to the night when Sonny was shot after seeing Brenda at the church. What if something entirely different had happened instead? Detailed summary inside. UPDATED 8.15.11!
1. The Start of The War

**Shadowing Death: **The Start of The War

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_**Summary:** Now, we are going back to that night in the rain when Brenda and Sonny saw each other. Sonny was shot, right? Wrong - for my take it's going to be Jason. This is all you really need to know. There's no Roy (I seem to remember him being there that night?) and no stalker thing with Courtney - she and AJ are still together and happy. Elizabeth never got the chance to walk out of Jason's penthouse after ending it because none of that ever happened. They are both still doing that fun little dance around each other. Zander is fine, no memory loss or anything. He and Liz have slept together. Also, most joyfully, Ric doesn't exist._

_--------------------------------------------- Outside the Church_

The man was waiting for Morgan to get there. It was all in his boss' plan. Aim at Corinthos and Morgan, being the good bodyguard that he was would jump in and take the bullet. What his boss wanted, his boss got.

Everything would go completely to plan. There was no way that this could fail. It was genius really, and vengeful, and hateful, and cruel. Of course, nothing like that had ever stopped his boss.

Morgan would get a fatal wound and would be thought dead. With Corinthos grieving over the loss of his friend he would be vulnerable to attack - which was exactly how they needed him.

The man smiled as he checked over the gun one last time.

Yes, this would all go to plan.

_---------------------------------------------  
_  
Sonny was amazed, he stared ahead of him and blinked, but even when he opened his eyes, there she was.

Brenda.

How could this be true? She was dead, her car had gone over a cliff. There was no way it was her, but there she was. Standing in the rain, smiling at him as though she were the young girl he had fallen for so many years ago.

Before all that had happened between them - before Jax and Lily, before the danger made it so difficult, but most importantly, before he left her at the alter.

He continued to stare at her. They were both oblivious to the danger that was around them. They both had no idea that this moment would change their lives forever.

_------------------------------------------- Road to the Church_

Jason turned off his bike and ran. The roads were becoming too slippery because of the rain. He would get there much faster if he went on foot. No matter how quickly he ran, it didn't seem like it was fast enough.

He had received a call from a distorted voice saying that Sonny would be shot in front of the church - tonight. The guards were with him, yes, but that still didn't change that his friend was in danger. He had to get there in time.

He ran as fast as his legs would carry him. The rain was beating down around him. He could hear his heart beating in his chest – more than half out of fear.

Finally he got to the entrance to the church. He threw open the gate and ran down the path. "Sonny!"

He saw Sonny whip around at the sound of Jason's voice. Behind Sonny Jason noticed a woman. The sight of her drew his focus for a second and his eyes narrowed. _Brenda?_

Jason's second of hesitation gave the gunman a chance. Making sure that Morgan would see him he started to take aim. Jason shook his head to clear it and his reason for coming slammd back into him. He glanced around the doors and bushes of the church and there, behind a small tree, was a man.

A man who was taking aim at Sonny.

"Sonny, watch out!" He called as he raced towards his friend. Sonny looked mildly shocked at Jason's charging at him. That only lasted seconds before the gunshots rang out. Jason felt a hot pain rush through him as he pushed Sonny to the ground.

Then, everything faded to blackness.

_-------------------------------------------------_

The man ran away as fast as he could. There was no doubt that some one had heard that and would be on their way. Once he was a safe distance away he took out his cell phone.

"It's done."

_------------------------------------------------ Elizabeth's Studio_

Elizabeth shot up in bed, breathing wildly. She had no idea what had woken her, didn't know why fear was gripping her so tightly. There was nothing to be afraid of in her studio - it was her safe place.

There was only one thought that made sense to her.

_Something's wrong with Jason_.

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I hope everyone liked the chapter!

REVIEW! PLEASE!


	2. Bleeding in the Rain

**Shadowing Death: **Bleeding in the Rain

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_Thanks so much for the reviews! There were some questions in them that I thought I would clear up: _

_Is this a Sonny/Brenda story? _

_Sadly, no. _

_Is Courtney going to be in this? _

_Just a bit. Remember, she didn't break up Elizabeth and Jason. It's just happy Court and AJ. She is Sonny's sister and he is Jason's brother, so of course appearances will be made, but nothing that stands very much. _

_  
__Is Carly in this story? _

_Yes. I couldn't leave her out. However, keep in mind that she is **not** pregnant. _

_

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_  
_---------------------------------------- Outside the Church_

Sonny felt Jason fall on top of him as the gunshot rang out. "Jason? Can you hear me?" he asked quietly. He thought he could feel wetness seep into his shirt, but he was praying it was just the rain. Behind him he could vaguely hear Brenda's screaming though no noise came from Jason.

Brenda ran up next to them and Sonny could see that she was crying. "Sonny?"

"Help me get him up." He instructed quietly. He wasn't sure why he was near whispering. Goddamnit, where was Francis?

Brenda slowly lifted Jason up and once his friend was up high enough Sonny managed to grab him and help Brenda to move him. Once they laid Jason down next to Sonny they could see that it wasn't just rain that was seeping into Sonny's shirt.

It was Jason's blood.

Sonny looked around the area. If he found Francis then he could get Jason to a doctor. "Francis!" he called out, but didn't hear anything in response. Swearing, he turned his attention back to Jason. "Jase? Can you hear me? Open your eyes, come on. You can do it. Jason!" he encouraged as he tapped Jason's face.

"Sonny. He's bleeding a lot." Brenda needlessly told him, sounding as though she was falling into some sort of shock. She had tears streaming down her face. It wouldn't be right if she didn't acknowledge that she didn't care for Jason much, but he had just saved Sonny and part of her would always care about him. Nothing Jason Morgan ever did would make her forget the affection she had always felt for Jason Quartermaine.

Beside her, Sonny looked at the wound in Jason's chest. He quickly took off his jacket and pressed it to the bloody area in an attempt to slow the bleeding. "Jason. Come on man, don't do this."

Jason groaned and opened his eyes slightly. "Sonny?" He whispered so faintly that Brenda and Sonny weren't even sure he had spoken.

"It's me. I'm right here. Stay with me." He kept encouraging. Looking around again he spotted Francis running up to them. "Where the hell have you been?" he asked angrily. What was the point of a guard when the guard wasn't there to guard you? Wasn't that his job? As much as he hated to admit it, he would much rather have Jason and Francis in reversed places.

"I was going after the gunman. I lost him when he went into the woods. How is Jason?" Francis said quickly.

"Get the car. NOW!" Sonny yelled. He didn't bother to answer Francis's question on Jason's condition. He didn't want to voice how bad this was.

Francis nodded and took off. Sonny looked down at Jason again. The bleeding wasn't letting up. "Jase. You're okay. Don't worry, you're okay." He said slowly to make sure Jason got it, that he knew that he was going to be fine. Sonny wasn't going to let him die.

Brenda kept watching Sonny. She could tell he was falling apart inside. The man had aimed at Sonny - the bullet was from Alcazar, it had to have been. Luis had shot Jason. This was her fault. Sonny was going to lose his best friend and the Quartermaines were losing Jason too. She knew she should have never come back to Port Charles. She should have stayed away.

"Brenda?" Jason whispered to them in slight surprise.

"Yeah, it's me. I bet I was the last person you expected to see." She joked with him, hoping to take his mind off things for even a second.

Jason's mouth twisted into something she chose to take as a smile, but whatever retort he had planned died on his lips. He groaned in pain again.

_------------------------------------------ Elizabeth's Studio_

Elizabeth was still in the process of catching her breath. Why had she woken up fearing for Jason? It made no sense, but something was wrong. She knew it.

Quickly she threw back the blankets on her couch and ran to the phone. Even in the dark she could see the numbers on the phone. She quickly dialed the number he had once forced to her memorize. The phone rang and after a few rings it was clear that no one was planning on picking up. She slammed the phone down in frustration.

This didn't help the fear she could feel racing through her. "Jason, where are you?"  
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__------------------------------------------ Outside the Church_

"Jason, no. Don't do this, Jason. Stay with me." Sonny pleaded to Jason. He could feel it in him. Jason was leaving them.

Jason said nothing back now. His eyes were slowly closing. He opened his mouth again, but only mouthed the word, _"Elizabeth…"_

Sonny gave Jason's arm a shake to keep him from closing his eyes, "Jason! Don't do this. Don't leave us. You can hang on, I know it. Please." Sonny said. This wasn't happening. How was it that he was getting Brenda back and losing Jason? This was his fault - another person suffering because of him. "Jason. Please, I need you. Carly and Michael do too. Think about Elizabeth. Come on. You're okay. We're gonna bring you to a safe house and a doctor's going to help you. It's going to be fine. Don't worry." He kept talking to Jason. The light was fading from Jason's eyes.

"It's not, not your fault." Jason choked out against the pain. Sonny was going to be blaming himself. Anyone who knew Sonny knew that and he didn't want Sonny going to that dark place over him. There was no real way to stop it, but it didn't mean he wasn't going to try.

"Yes, it is, but that doesn't matter right now. Don't talk. Just focus on breathing." Sonny ordered. He didn't want to think about that right now. He had been sitting there with Jason for only a few minutes but that didn't seem to register with him. It felt like much longer.

The door to the church opened up and a priest ran out. "I called the hospital." He said as he got there.

Sonny closed his eyes. That was not a good thing. The priest was talking and for once in his life, Sonny wasn't listening. He kept himself focused on his friend. "Hey, hey man. It's okay."

"Sonny..." Jason started to say, but his eyes closed and his head fell back. Sonny let go of the jacket and pressed his fingers to Jason's neck to find a pulse.

There wasn't one.

Sonny stared at Jason. Brenda's crying stopped instantly and she turned her gaze to Sonny. His eyes were wide and tears were leaking out now.

Jason was dead.

Francis ran up to them "I have the car." Seeing the looks on everyone's face he looked down at Jason. He knew what had happened. He had been too late.

"Take Brenda." Sonny ordered. His eyes never left Jason's face.

Brenda turned to look at him. "Sonny, I want to stay with you." She whispered to him. This was not the time for him to be alone. She knew him. He needed someone.

Her words didn't even seem to register with Sonny. "Francis, take her to a safe house." His words were calm and unemotional. His eyes still stayed trained on Jason's unmoving face. Jason wasn't ever going to move again. The thought struck Sonny like a ton of bricks. Jason was wild, full of life - always on the move. It was so alien to see Jason so still.

Francis stood up and went to Brenda. "Come on, Miss Barrett."

"No." She said and wrenched her arm from the guards grasp. Francis wasn't about to let Sonny down again, though. He picked Brenda up and ran to the car.

"Sonny!" she called out for him. "He should not be alone now. His best friend is dead. He needs someone." She said to Francis, but he ignored her and said nothing.

The door to the limo closed and Francis drove off. Brenda could hear the police and ambulance coming.

Sonny seemed oblivious to everything. He couldn't believe it. Jason was dead - after everything he had been through. It was all over. His friend was dead.

He heard a voice behind him. "Well, well, well. Corinthos. So, who died at your hand tonight?" Taggert's voice said as he walked up to the scene. He looked down at the person Sonny was sitting next to.

Jason Morgan.

So maybe it wasn't at Sonny's hand after all.

"I'll be damned." Taggert whispered.

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_I hope everyone enjoyed (well, maybe **enjoyed** would be stretch) the chapter. Please review!_


	3. Wording Doesn't Matter

**Shadowing Death:** Wording Doesn't Matter

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_Thanks for all of the great reviews for last chapter. _

_--------------------Outside the Church_

Sonny watched as the EMTs tried to bring Jason back but no matter what they did, nothing worked. They declared him dead on the spot.

Taggert was impatient to get answers, "Corinthos, who shot Morgan? Look, I'm know you're upset but we can get the guy." Taggert said. He was trying his best to be patient. Though it wasn't much of a loss in his mind and he held no love or respect for either Sonny Corinthos or Jason Morgan, the guy had just lost his best friend. He remembered when he had teamed up with Jason to save Elizabeth Webber. He had proved to Taggert that he was smart - smarter than most gave his credit for.

Sonny continued to stare at Jason's lifeless form. "Get lost Taggert. I'm not answering any questions." He said, sounding nearly emotionless.

"Look, you want to get this guy - get revenge for Jason. I get that. Someone murdered him outside of a church. I want to help. Tell me what you know." Taggert said, he had moved in front of Sonny's view of Jason and was speaking softly.

"Why in hell do you care about this, Taggert?" Sonny asked angrily.

"I know that Morgan was your enforcer. I know that a lot of people are going to try to take over your territory or whatever you mobsters like to call it. There's going to be a mob war and it's going to be a massive bloodshed. If anything, Morgan staying alive would have been a good thing in my book." Taggert explained.

Sonny glared at the man. "I don't care about your _book_. What I care about is my best friend. Right now I need to go tell my wife - his best friend who depends on him - that Jason is dead. Then I need to tell my son why his Uncle Jason isn't ever coming to see him again. And later I need to tell Elizabeth Webber that she just lost someone else she loves. So, tell me how what you want figures into that?" Sonny asked. He waited a second and Taggert just stood there.

Without another word Sonny walked away. He only took one glance back, just in time to see a white sheet be draped over his surrogate little brother.

_----------------------- Corinthos Penthouse_

Carly heard the door open and ran down the stairs. She had some things she wanted to talk with Sonny about, maybe a vacation with Michael as a family. Jason and even Courtney could come along, if they could get the girl away from AJ.

Sonny walked into the room and Carly stopped dead in her tracks.

He was covered in blood.

"Oh my god! Sonny, are you okay? What happened? Are you hurt?" Carly said as she rushed to her husband, concern running through her.

"Carly, sit down." Sonny said gently. She could tell from his eyes this was bad.

"What is it Sonny?" Carly asked, fear lacing her voice.

"This blood isn't mine." Sonny said slowly, unsure how to tell her this. It would crush her either way. No matter how many ways he worded it. The news wouldn't change.

"Whose is it then?" Carly asked in a whisper.

"I was at a church tonight. I didn't know it but there was a gunman there. Jason came running into the courtyard of the church." Sonny started. Carly felt tears start to run down her face. She knew what was coming, and she didn't want him to say it. As long as Sonny didn't say the words it might not be true.

"The shooter fired and Jason threw himself on me. He, um, he had been shot." Sonny told Carly as she let out a deep breath. More tears leaked out of her eyes.

"I was sitting with him. He was awake and talking to me. He said, he said it wasn't my fault. And then he…" Sonny stopped. He tried to pull back the tears spilling out of his eyes. Jason has wasted breath and strength just to get out something to make him feel better. It had probably hurt him to speak, but he did it anyway. For Sonny. Jason had died for him.

"Sonny, don't say it. Please, tell me he's at a safe-house. Anything. He can be with Elizabeth Webber. That's where he is right? Recovering at her studio? Right? Sonny, right?" Carly cried out, but in her heart she knew that wasn't the case.

"He's gone Carly. Jason's dead."

"No." Carly said as she broke down, crying in Sonny's arms.  
_  
__------------------------- Quartermaine Mansion_

"Detective Taggert is here." Reginald announced. Taggert had called ahead and requested the presence of everyone in the family over the phone. Everyone with the exception of Lila was in the den.

"What in the devil are you doing here and why have you corralled us all in the sitting room?" Edward boomed out before Taggert could speak.

"I don't want to be here Edward." Taggert said gently. This was the worst part of his job, telling the families that someone they loved was dead. Even if it was Jason Morgan. Even if he had to tell the Quartermaines. Maybe Mac would have been a better choice.

"Then why are you here Taggert?" Ned asked.

"Jason Morgan was shot and killed tonight." Taggert said finally, he didn't want to sugarcoat anything.

And, for the first time, the room full of Quartermaines was silent.

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_  
__Please Review!_


	4. Him

**Shadowing Death:** Him

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_Thanks again to all of my lovely reviewers. Just so everyone knows, this is officially a LIASON and Sonny/Carly story!_

--- Quartermaine Mansion

Detective Taggert had stayed only a little longer after his initial bombshell, offering the story of what had happened and worthless sympathies, before leaving quietly. Before he'd gone, he'd given them a promise that he would find the one responsible for his grandson's death, but it was useless. The murderer was safe in this town. The Port Charles Police hadn't solved a crime by themselves in almost a decade.

Besides, he knew who was responsible for Jason's death.

Sonny Corinthos.

Edward shook his head, this was no time to be thinking of that hellion.

Jason had always been his pride and joy and though he'd never say it aloud, that really went for whatever incarnation of his grandson there had been at any time. Jason Quartermaine had been one of the best things in his life. Star athlete, honors student… he was one of the best Quartermaines. Edward was thrilled with the fact that Jason was so like Lila, that her kindness and sound mind, free of judging or hatred, would live on. Now, it seemed that it would die with Lila after all.

He had felt like someone had punched the air out of him when Reginald and the police had informed them of the accident, the night that he'd first lost his grandson. Jason Quartermaine had died that day.

Then, in his place, Jason Morgan came. The boy that they'd let get away. No one knew it, but he had been proud of Jason from day one. To survive that accident. to live through the aftermath and not go entirely insane? That was strength in the likes that no one else in the family had - except, perhaps, the Jason who had come before him.

Even with knowing what Jason did for a living he was still proud, in some sort of strange, partially ignorant way. Few thought of a mob territory quite like he did. The similarities between that and a boardroom? It was a business, through and through.

There was Ned and Dillon by Tracey. Justus by Bradley. Jason Morgan, Jason Quartermaine and AJ by Alan. He had six grandsons. Not five.

Now, he was down to four.

And once again, that feeling of the air being punched out of him came back to him. Except this time it was harder to shake. There was no other incarnation of Jason to make him proud coming soon. This was it. They were dead.

--- Quartermaine Mansion, Terrace

Alan sat down in the chair that Jason would occupy when he sat out on the terrace, as he had so many years ago. He remembered the whole scene. Jason was just coming home from the hospital. He was home, with his family. He had survived the accident, one that would have killed many. And the moment he got home, what did he want to do?

Sit outside on the terrace, alone, in freezing weather.

Alan looked back over things in his mind. He had no idea how to break away from the feeling that he had failed his son. Could he have seen sooner that Jason Quartermaine and Jason Morgan were different? Could he had reached out to Jason and steered him away from Sonny Corinthos?

Alan's mind screamed "no", but his heart screamed "yes".

By the time he had seen the truth, it had been too late. There was nothing he could have done to get into his son's life. He knew nothing of Jason. Not even the food like liked the best. He could count on his hands the things he knew about Jason.

He was loyal to the ones he loved.

He rode his motorcycle everywhere.

He smiled rarely.

Any friends he had ever managed to make were not the best of people all of the time, Carly, Sonny, Robin, Ned, Elizabeth Webber.

Alan's mind went to the Christmas party a few years ago. No one knew it, but he was eternally grateful to Elizabeth. Jason had come to the party to see Michael, most likely, and Elizabeth was there to be a Christmas elf. He had watched his son smile while he held the hat too high for the short girl to grab. He had been fooling around with her. Smiling, and even laughing a bit. He could see then how wrong the town was about him. His son wasn't violent all of the time. With those people. the few people, no matter how bad or good they were, Jason had been happy.

He laughed occasionally. For them. He smiled, for them. Talked to them. Fought for them.

He never once smiled Alan's way. Nor did he laugh. When talking to his father he used grunts and short worded answers. He fought _with_ Alan, not _for_ him.

But there was nothing he could do to change all that now, no matter how bad it hurt. Alan could feel tears start to run down his face. All he could do now was be there for the rest of the family. Monica had walked upstairs camly, but Alan could hear that the moment the door was closed she had broken down sobbing. And Emily, they would need to break the news to her from rehab. That would be the end of her stay there. He highly doubted that he could keep her away now. He shook his head as he got up.

For now, he could throw himself into helping the family. He could numb himself, but it would never change. He had once told Jason that when Jason Quartermaine had left, a part of him, the very best part, had gone with too.

He knew then that the rest of him had followed

--- Corinthos Penthouse

Sonny looked down at Carly. She had cried herself to sleep. There was nothing he could do to make this okay for her. He couldn't make it okay for anyone. There was only one person to fix this.

And he was dead.

Sonny shook his head. He couldn't think about that right now. He couldn't think about Jason. If he did then he wouldn't be able to do what needed to be done. There would be plenty of time for hating himself and missing his friend later. Sonny walked out the penthouse door and motioned to Johnny to follow him.

"Yes Boss?" Johnny questioned. He had been the one to inform all of the men of Jason's death. Most of the men loved Jason as a best friend or brother and in addition to being sad about his death, they were all ready to kill who was responsible. Not even an order from Sonny could stop them from getting revenge for Jason.

"I need you to get as many men as possible on looking into what happened. Right now I need to go tell Elizabeth Webber." Sonny said quietly. Johnny could tell that Sonny was battling for control right now.

"Okay. Do you need me to drive you?"

Sonny shook his head. "I want Francis to come. He is going to guard her from now on." He informed the loyal man. Elizabeth had Francis guarding her a many different points in time. He was hoping that she would feel better with him around, but it was a long shot.

"I'll call him." Johnny said simply. He watched Sonny close his eyes slowly and run his hand through his hair.

--- Quartermaine Mansion, Monica and Alan's Room

Monica couldn't stop the sobs from wracking her body. This was too much. How could she be expected to survive losing three kids? She had lost Dawn and Jason. And now she had lost him again.

This wasn't right.

It wasn't fair.

Jason was the one who had owned her heart for years. And he wasn't even hers by blood.

Blood.

Monica shook her head. She couldn't think of that word right now. Because it brought visions of what her son had gone through during his last moments. From what Taggert had said she gathered it wasn't an instant death. He had been awake, and even speaking to Sonny. Had it hurt much? Or was what they said about death being painless at the very end true? She hoped to God it was. For Jason. And for her sanity.

How was she going to survive this? How was Lila? Or Emily and AJ? Alan? Ned? The list went on. All of them would know how she had let her son down in so many ways.

Now she would never get the chance to make it up.

--- Elizabeth's Studio

That was it. She was going to Jason's penthouse. She had to know if he was all right. The feeling in her gut, even her soul, said he wasn't. Never in her life had she wanted their connection to be wrong more than now. She grabbed the leather jacket he had given her and headed to the doorway. She was so determined and shaky, the knock at the door nearly made her jump.

It was Jason. He had gotten her messages and decided to come here in person to tell her he was okay.

Elizabeth went to the door and threw it open. "Jason! I was worr-" she started. It wasn't Jason at the door. It was Sonny. It was Sonny covered in blood. Elizabeth looked up into Sonny's shut off eyes and knew.

"No."

Elizabeth shook her head blindly. Sonny started to come into the room as she backed away from him. "No" It was the only thought she could get her mind around.

"I'm so sorry Elizabeth. You have no idea how sorry I am." Sonny said quietly. He was well aware about their feelings about each other. Jason and Elizabeth loved each other. It was obvious to everyone but them.

"No. You're lying." Elizabeth whispered, uncomprehendingly. Her heart screamed that Sonny was playing a trick, but everything in her knew it wasn't a lie.

"He showed up out of nowhere at the church I was at. It was like he knew. The gun went off and he threw himself on me." Sonny started to explain. He didn't know why he was still speaking. Maybe it was more for him than her.

"You were supposed to protect him. You're his friend Sonny. You were supposed to look out for him… because he doesn't look out for himself." Elizabeth whispered. She needed someone to blame. She knew it wasn't Sonny's fault - that Jason would die for him, that he had signed up for this, but she still needed to blame someone.

"I know." Sonny said as he hung his head in shame.

"He's not gone. Oh god, he can't be. How could this happen? I knew something was wrong. I knew it. But I didn't think… " Elizabeth said, unaware that she was babbling.

"We were more than friends. He was my more than friend. Is! He _is_ my more than friend. He isn't dead. No. I need him. He knows that. Right? He knows that?" Elizabeth said. She was staring at one spot on the floor. Her arms were hugging her shaking body.

"He knew that." Sonny said, in the hopes of being comforting. He had to get out of there. Everything she was saying was true. He didn't want to deal with it. This was punishment. God had taken the one person to stand by him no matter what.

Elizabeth started to sink to the floor. There was so much she didn't say. Did he know? He would never really know. She had waited too long. They had danced around each other too much. She had waited too long. He was dead. Jason was gone. She didn't get to tell him how she felt. She didn't get to kiss him. She wouldn't get to do that. He was dead. No, she didn't feel it.

But it was true. Sonny was covered in blood. He had died of a gunshot wound. Was it in the same spot as the last time? No. He was dead. It didn't matter. Nothing did. The only thing that should have mattered was that he knew.

He wouldn't.

He wouldn't know she loved him.

Up until that very moment she wasn't even aware of it.

The room went to black as Sonny caught her.

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_Reviews are, as always, loved. _


	5. Numb

**Shadowing Death: Numb **

**---**

_Thank you to the reviewers!_

_This is a few days later. _

--- Elizabeth's Studio

She was in shock still. Even though it had been hours since she had first heard from Sonny that Jason had....

She still couldn't say the words. Not in a sentence together. Not without crying. Well, not without crying harder. It was ironic - the moment she realized how much she loved Jason, was the moment she lost him forever.

How was that for timing?

It wasn't fair. Then again, not many things in life were fair. From what her Gram had said and what the radio had informed her, it wasn't only her opinion.

Monica Quartermaine had been admitted to General Hospital after having a breakdown. From what she had heard from the news she was on sedatives now. Not that anyone could blame her. She had lost her son twice.

Emily had been brought home. She had even come to see her. She was on crutches but was well enough to just have physical therapy at the hospital.

It seemed strange, considering how close Jason and Emily had been, but she was probably taking this all the best. She was trying to be strong for the people around her. It had almost annoyed her, enraged her even, until she'd noticed the few packs of tissues and picture of Jason her best friend now carried in her purse. Elizabeth's momentary anger had deflated, leaving her feeling even more… _sick. _She'd hugged Emily then, for what Emily had probably deemed no reason at all.

Emily was choosing to grieve in private. Strong on the outside, devastated on the inside.

AJ Quartermaine had also oddly enough risen to the occasion, to the shock of nearly everyone. He didn't turn to alcohol or dance on his brother's grave - though Jason didn't have one of those yet - like most expected him too. Mostly he had been taking care of the media and Lila. Elizabeth's heart broke for the old woman.

There was no one sweeter than Lila, and she adored her grandson. In fact a person visiting the mansion would think that Jason's parents had actually named him "Jason Darling", just from hearing Lila talk to him.

Most people who had met Jason wouldn't think he was a darling or that he was good or gentle or kind. Elizabeth knew better. She knew _him_.

In her heart, she knew that such knowledge went both ways. Lucky had once, before the fire, seen her more clearly than anyone had in her entire life. When he'd been taken from her, she'd thought that she'd lost that and when he came back she'd been sure. She did think that anyone would see and accept whatever made her who she was again.

Jason had. Jason saw everything, knew everything.

Didn't he know that she would die inside without him? She couldn't help but wish he had tried harder to hang on. It made the guilt swirl up and choke her to even think such a thing. If the pain had been bad enough to stop Jason Morgan, then she couldn't even imagine how bad he had felt.

Elizabeth wiped the tear that was trailing down her face away. She took a deep breath. Crying was really all she did these days. She wanted to shut the world out, shut him out, but couldn't keep her thoughts from Jason too long.

She also wished that she had been there. Had been able to hold him, to help him through his last minutes. Let him know she loved him. The only thing that she did take a bit of comfort in the fact that Sonny had been there.

She wasn't sure that she wanted to see Sonny right now. It wasn't because she blamed him, though when that first immediate wave of grief had struck her, she had. She knew how Jason and Sonny had been with each other and she knew that Sonny would have saved Jason if he could've. No, she wasn't sure she could even look at himself because she knew he blamed himself. She wasn't sure if she could take hearing him tell her how sorry he was, because, in her head, all she would hear was Jason's voice telling her that it wasn't anyone's fault.

She wanted to believe him, so very badly.

The blame lay with the one who had shot him. Whoever they worked for, whatever they had done it for, she hated that nameless face that had pulled the trigger on the man she loved. Sonny, she knew, was sending every man he had out to find who had done it. She hoped that he made them pay. Slowly and painfully.

She had never really wished pain on another person, but whenever she thought of Jason laying there, bleeding and in pain, all she could do was hate the ones responsible.

It was almost the only feeling she felt anymore. Anger.

Somehow, the anger was comforting. It was a feeling. Without it, she was nothing but numb.

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_Poor Elizabeth…_

_Reviews are love._


	6. The Rules About Heaven

**Shadowing Death: The Rules About Heaven**

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_Hey guys! Thanks for all of the reviews you gave last chapter. Have I mentioned lately how great you all are? Which is why I kills me to say this: I may end up shelving all of my fics for a few months. I can't seem to get interested in writing them, or maybe I can't sit down and do it. I don't know. I bet you're all sick of hearing about my monster issue though. I just wanted to let you know that hiatus is looking like a bigger and bigger possibility. However, until I decide, here's a nice chapter for you. It's the start Sonny/Brenda talk you have all been waiting for! Like me better now?_

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_-- Outside the Safehouse_

Sonny's limo drove up to the house he had been avoiding for three days. Three days that he had spent giving orders, comforting Carly, checking on Elizabeth, checking on the Quartermaines, getting Jason's funeral together with Carly, pretending everything was okay with Michael.

Sonny sighed and shook his head. Carly was at home right now explaining to their son how his beloved Uncle Jason was dead. How Sonny had let him die, though Carly wouldn't word it like that. She would leave out the part where Jason died due to a gunshot wound that had been meant for him. She would leave out the part where Jason had most likely been in indescribable pain.

All because of him.

Still, somehow, in some way that Sonny and his men had yet to find out, Jason knew what was going to happen. He had known that Sonny may die and he ran as fast as he could to prevent that. Actually, he had driven most of the way, his bike had been found on the side of the road. The only material possession that Jason loved was lying there fallen over and covered in mud. He must have been in a hurry.

Brenda's role in all of this was yet another piece to the puzzle that he didn't know how fit in. It would would most likely be cleared up once he talked to her, but he still wasn't too enthusiastic about this drive. Rather, the talk he would be having was what he wasn't looking forward to.

It wasn't like he had a choice, though.

The house came into the view of Sonny's window. The pulled in the driveway slowly.

This was it, time to go talk to the once love of his life: Brenda Barrett.

_-- Corinthos Penthouse_

Carly sat on the couch taking deep breaths, Michael would be home soon. Bobbie had offered to take him a lot these days. They hadn't figured out what to tell Michael and so they just hadn't said anything at all. He didn't know, and if he didn't know then it would have been extremely hard to explain why his mommy was sobbing all the time and his daddy had a dead look in his eyes.

Now they didn't have a choice. Michael was confused. He didn't know why his parents were so upset, why he kept getting sent to his Grandma's and he didn't know where Uncle Jason was. They couldn't keep him in the dark anymore.

The door swung open and Michael bounded in the room. "Mommy!"

Carly smiled at the sight of him so happy, but then it hit her that he wouldn't leave the room that way. She suddenly couldn't remember what had possessed her to tell Sonny that she would be okay telling him this by herself.

"Hey Mr. Man. Come here and give Mommy a hug." She said quietly, forcing the smile back on her face for Michael. Her son ran up to her and threw his arms around his mother.

"Hi Mommy." Michael greeted her. He knew she needed a hug. She looked like she did. Daddy did too. What he didn't get was why. They were fine when he went to bed, but when he woke up something was different. He just wished his Uncle Jason would come soon. He always made them smile - and not that fake one his mom kept doing. That was not a smile, 'cause when his Mommy smiled, she made the whole room look big and bright. Now all he wanted to do when she smiled was ask her what was so wrong.

His Mom looked down at him. "We have to talk for a little while Michael." She was talking slowly, but this was good right? Didn't Jason say that sometimes talking about things would make you feel better? So then Mommy would tell him why she was sad, and she would feel better. Then he could go tell Jason that he had made her feel better all by himself - just like Uncle Jason did.

"Okay Mommy." He said, nodding his head enthusiastically.

His Mother took a deep breath and started to talk to him. He could tell that this was a grown-up talk, but that was okay - he was a big boy now. Everyone said so. "Michael, something really bad happened a few days ago." Michael's smile dropped from his face a bit, but then he thought about it and it came back full force, whatever was wrong his Daddy could fix it. If it was really wrong, then Uncle Jason could do it. Mommy told him that all the time.

"Your Uncle Jason, he, well he got hurt really badly, Michael." She said. Tears were coming out of her eyes. The smile dropped from his face completely. His Uncle Jason was hurt? Was it hurt like when he fell of the swings at school and had to get a band-aid? He didn't think so - from the way his mommy was looking at him, it wasn't that kind of hurt. It was a much worse kind of hurt. Hurt like when his friend Tommy's dad got in a...accident was what they called it. Yeah, they said that he got into a accident and was in the hospital a LONG time.

"Is he in the hospital?" Michael asked in a small voice. His Mommy gave him a sad smile. Suddenly he wished that she wouldn't keep smiling like that. He didn't like those smiles.

Carly shook her head at him. "No sweetie. He isn't in the hospital."

Michael was even more confused now. If you were hurt or sick, then didn't you go to the hospital? That's what Grandma said when she told him about her job, and if Uncle Jason has hurt bad then he should be in one. Why wasn't he? "Where is he then?"

His Mommy closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them she had even more tears coming down her face. He should get her a tissue...

"Michael, do you remember when Daddy and I told you about dying?" she asked slowly. He remembered that, Leticia's Mommy had died and 'Tecia needed to go home for a little while. Michael nodded to his Mommy.

"Honey, Uncle Jason, um, Jason's gone sweetie. He died." She said.

Michael just stared at his Mother. Daddy said that if you died then you went to Heaven, but if you were there then you could never ever come back. If Uncle Jason was there then...

"When is he coming back?" he asked her with urgency. Maybe he had gotten that part wrong. Maybe people in Heaven could come visit. Or maybe Heaven was like a vacation. Like when he and 'Tecia went to the island. They stayed a while then came home. That had to be how Heaven worked, 'cause his Uncle Jason could not be gone forever. He needed him. Mommy and Daddy needed him.

"He isn't coming back sweetie."

Michael's world came crashing down around him.

_-- Outside the Safehouse_

Sonny knocked on the door before entering and the moment he was through the door he had to duck due to a flying vase.

"Unless you are going to take me to Sonny then get the hell out!" Brenda's voice cried. Obviously she was looking forward to their talk way more than he was.

"Jesus Brenda, you trying to kill me?" Sonny said jokingly, hoping to break the tension that would soon follow, but the instant the words were out of his mouth he got a flash of Jason being covered by the white sheet.

"Sonny! Sorry. I didn't mean to hit you. I was aiming for those jerks outside." Brenda said as she apologized.

Sonny just stared at her for a minute. Taking in her appearance. She looked good. That was for sure. She was dressed in good clothes. She hadn't been too bad off, where ever she had been.

"Sonny? I know who killed Jason."

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_Hehe, nice spot to end things huh? I hope you all liked the chapter. And please, REVIEW!!_


	7. Plan ReWrites

**Shadowing Death:** Plan Re-Writes

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_Thanks again to the lovely readers and reviewers! A short chapter for you this time, but hey, I think you'll like it…_

--- Alcazar's Yacht

Luis Alcazar was a patient man. He could wait. Especially when he knew the waiting would pay off for him. He could wait to get Brenda back, and then he would make sure that nothing like this could separate them again. He loved her and once he had no one left to fight with for her affections, she would love him too. Jasper Jacks could be killed. He hadn't ever really done anything to hurt her. Not like Sonny Corinthos.

No, Sonny was a different story altogether.

Sonny had hurt her many times - left her at the alter, walked out on her, almost ruined her spirit. He was the one who was going to suffer. Jax would get away with just death, but Sonny?

He's wish for the same thing by the time Luis was done.

Alcazar had an elaborate plan to go after the great Sonny Corinthos. Death wasn't enough. Physical pain wasn't enough. Even taking his territory wasn't enough. Hurting his family wasn't enough.

Together, though, it was enough.

He had a lot planned for Mr. Corinthos and it all hung in the balance now.

The whole thing could all go to hell. All his careful planning, biding of his time, and for what? Why could it all get ruined? Because his gunman was too good. He did what he would have normally been called on to do. This time, however, that wasn't what Alcazar wanted. His instructions had been very specific.

All that asshole had needed to do was hit Morgan with the bullet coated with that wonderful drug. Hit him in the chest to make it look like he had been killed. The coroner he had paid off would declare Jason dead and return him to Alcazar after the funeral.

He'd been please that everything had been going to plan, but he'd gotten a call from the doctor he had paid, saying that it might all go up in smoke because the hitman's aim had been too good. Well, needless to say, he was very upset. So there would be a change of plans. Jason Morgan had been escorted to his home, with a team of all the best doctors to save his pathetic life waiting for him. At the time of the funeral, he would be returned, under the drug again.

All that wouldn't matter at all if the doctors couldn't keep him alive. Blood loss and the fact that the bullet had entered his lung wasn't helping things at all. He needed for the kid to stay alive.

Without him, then how would he be able to take down Corinthos?

The entire plan, the only way he could think of to get Brenda back, hinged on Jason Morgan. He was the key. Once Morgan was recovered he would make excellent trading material.

Brenda for Jason.

He knew Corinthos' background, he knew how Sonny shut down at the loss of people he loved. He knew that Sonny would do anything to get them back. Alcazar was counting on it.

The door to Jason's bedroom opened at out filed five tired looking doctors.

"Well?" Alcazar spat out, not trying to hide his impatience. His plan revolved around Morgan's survival and if these doctors didn't save his life then there would be big troubl.

"Mr. Alcazar, I want you to know that we have done everything we could have possibly done for the young man...." One of the doctors started after a few nudges from the other ones.

He wasn't going fast enough for Luis. "I don't care how hard you worked, I just need to know one thing. Is Jason Morgan dead or not?"

The doctor hesitated.

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_You're welcome. Did I fool anyone? Let me know in a review!_


	8. What Happened

**Shadowing Death:** What Happened

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_A million thank you's to the reviewers! _

--- Safe House

Sonny stared at Brenda in surprise. He had never truly connected Jason's death with Brenda's reappearance in his head. Now that she had claimed to know what was going on, he felt stupid for not having come to talk to her sooner.

Carly and Michael were nearly the only things keeping him from falling prey to his guilt. What he truly needed was a mission to avenge Jason to keep his mind from the darkness, a reason to fight through this. He wouldn't stop until he did. "Tell me everything."

Brenda bit her lip nervously. "I know who killed Jason. At least, I'm pretty sure. I have a lot of explaining to do don't I?" she said with a small laugh designed to put them to ease. Sonny couldn't even bring himself to smile for her. She took the silence as an opportunity to study him. He looked to be something beyond tired. His eyes were different. Whatever had made him human, made him the man she'd loved, seemed to be completely extinguished. Then, she wasn't surprised. When someone important to Sonny left him, a part of him left too.

She couldn't help feeling her heart was breaking for him.

"Yeah, I think you do. Where have you been Brenda? And how do you know who killed Jason?" Sonny asked her faintly. His mind was reeling. He hadn't gotten a real chance to process her sudden appearance. He had stared at her for around a minute before Jason had run into the churchyard. Past that he hadn't really let himself think of her. He was keeping his mind in a detached mode.

"Well, I guess I should start from the beginning." She started; this could take a while...

--- Corinthos Penthouse

Carly stared at her son. She wished she could read his mind right now, but she couldn't, and she had no clue what he was thinking. She knew he was crushed, she could see it in his eyes. Jason was his idol, his everything. The two would talk for hours together, whispering in a huddle, ceasing all conversation when someone would move past them. Jason had been teaching Michael about how to play pool and how to fix a motorcycle. When Sonny and Carly would try to get Michael to do what they wanted it could take an army but Jason could look at Michael and get the response he wanted. The little boy looked up to him completely. What Jason ate at dinner, Michael ate. What Jason wore, Michael wanted to wear. Sometimes, Carly would talk to Michael and through his facial expression and eyes she would only see Jason. This was going to kill a part of her son.

"Michael, honey, did you hear what Mommy said?" she asked him quietly, knowing full and well that he had.

Michael stared at her with wide eyes. Her words were echoing in his mind. His brain was stuck on, _Uncle Jason is dead, Uncle Jason isn't coming back. _

Michael's mind tried to wrap itself around the real situation. Maybe this was a joke - like a surprise party. Uncle Jason would jump out of the corner soon and it would all be okay. Maybe it was hide and seek and all Michael had to do was seek him. Uncle Jason was good at hiding though, so it may take some time.

His face lit up when he realized the obvious solution. Uncle Jason said that whenever Michael needed him he could call him on the phone and he come to him no matter where he was. He had promised, and Jason didn't break promises. So all he would have do to was call him on the phone, Jason would come, and Michael could convince him to leave Heaven and stay with them.

It was a smart plan, Uncle Jason would be impressed, he was sure of it. Jason would say, "Good thinking, Buddy, I knew you could do it!" then mess up his hair and hug him. Then after a second Jason would snatch him up and swing him around. It was a _great_ idea.

Michael jumped up from the couch and ran to the phone. He started to dial the numbers that Jason had him memorize.

"Michael? Sweetie, what are you doing?" Mommy called to him with a frown on her face, but she would smile soon, Michael would make sure of it. He would fix everything, just like Jason.

"I'm calling Uncle Jason! He said to call him if I ever need anything, and I do now. So I'll call and he'll come. And I'll just convince him to stay here instead of Heaven!" Michael cried happily to her. He was almost to the last number.

Carly choked back a sob. "No Michael. He isn't coming back. He can't."

Michael turned around and hung up the phone out of shock, "You said he could do anything! He can. He can come home. And he can still teach me to fix his bike and everything!"

His mother shook her head. "Baby, he can't come back from Heaven. It doesn't work like that. The angels have him now. They aren't going to let him go. You can't come back from Heaven Michael. Not even your Uncle Jason."

"No, He promised to come if I needed him!" Michael shook his head just as hard as her, tears leaking out of his eyes. "And I need him! So he'll be here. He never breaks his promises!"

Carly looked at her son said, her heart was breaking for him. The only problem was, her heart was already in pieces.

--- Alcazar's Yatch

The doctor hesitated before answering. "He is still alive, yes. But I don't believe that he will make it through the night, Mr. Alcazar." The doctor stopped but his face seemed to want to say more.

Alcazar noticed. "Out with it." He said. His mood was slightly better after he found out that his plan still had a shot in hell. Long shot he could work with.

"Well, the young man, Jason you said, was calling out for someone while he was semi-conscious. I think that it would help him greatly if that person were here." The doctor suggested slowly. He was sure about what he had said though. The boy would need all the support he could get, something to fight for.

"And who was this person?" Alcazar asked, slowly. If things got bad enough with Morgan than he would need an ace to pull out of his sleeve.

"He called for an Elizabeth."

Alcazar smiled. "That could be arranged."

--- Safe House

Sonny's mind was reeling. This was too much. He could have been an average guy and Jason would have still died. It was all because of his relationship with Brenda.

She was watching him warily. She knew that look in his eyes. She knew what he was going to do.

He was going to kill Luis.

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_Oh, yes he is…_

_Please, review!_


	9. Decline in Spirit and Health

**Shadowing Death:** Decline in Spirit and Health

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_Thanks for the reviews. All will soon be explained. _

--- Corinthos Penthouse

Sonny ran his hand over his face as he walked into the penthouse. He had to figure out his plan of action for the information Brenda had gave him. His eyes shot to Carly as he made his way to the wet bar, but the minute he got a good look at his wife, he stopped. She was sitting on the couch and her shoulders were shaking. She was crying.

That was mostly what she did now and he truly couldn't blame her at all. Every time he saw her he could blame himself, though. There were constant reminders around him of what he'd let happen. "Carly?" he called to her as he crossed the room. She turned to look at him. Her eyes were red and puffy.

"I told him." She said faintly. Sonny shook his head sadly. There was no way that the conversation with Michael could have gone well. The revealing information Brenda had given him was important, but suddenly it didn't seem worth missing what Carly'd had to do.

"And?" He inquired carefully as he sank down next to her. He was almost afraid of her answer. Somehow, he knew that he had a heartbroken son upstairs.

"I watched his heart break, Sonny. I could see it in his eyes. Its like something went out. He asked if Jason could visit him from Heaven. And I told him no. I thought he got it then. He was quiet and I really thought he understood." Carly answered, a little sob catching in her throat. "I thought that he would accept it. But then he looks up at me with his huge smile and runs to the phone. He was going to call Jason. He was going to call Jason and ask him to leave Heaven and stay with us." Carly said as her sobs started again in earnest.

"What did, ah, what'd you tell him?" Sonny asked her quietly. His voice was failing him a lot these days. How was it that before now he didn't know how important Jason was to him? To all of them?

"That not even Jason could come back." Carly said through her crying. "But that wasn't even the worst part."

Sonny turned to look at her better. "What was the worst part?" he asked.

"He's done so much for us Sonny. He gave up so much. And there I was ready to take more from him. How could I do that to him?" she cried to him. She was making no sense. He'd often felt that following Carly's thought process was a difficult task on a good day, but now, with his wife nearly hysterical? He didn't stand a chance.

"Baby, please calm down. I don't understand." Sonny pleaded with her.

"All I could do was sit there and think that if there was a way, then I would let Michael. Can you believe that? I was standing there, thinking that if Michael could find a way to get Jason here, I would stand right there with Michael and beg Jason to stay with us, to give up any sort of peace he could get? He deserves it Sonny. And I would have asked him to give it up. Just so he could be with me." She sobbed.

Sonny knew how she felt, because he felt the exact same way.

--- Outside The Church

Elizabeth slowly got out of her car and walked towards the spot she needed to see. She hadn't left her studio in days. Most people would think that her first time out would a soothing walk, or even a trip to a bar to drink away her sorrows. That wasn't what she needed, though. She needed _this_.

Had he walked in this spot? Was this were he ran? She could imagine the whole scene. Jason in his leather jacket, running as fast as he could, and Sonny walking out of the church, oblivious to what was about to happen to everyone's world.

Why hadn't she realized that _he_ was her world?

She shook her head sadly. Just another "What if..." or "Why..." She was having a lot of those these days. Why hadn't she trusted him more? Why hadn't she tried harder? What if she had? Would things have gone differently? No, she knew, he would have come anyway. It would have happened the same, but at least he would have known she loved him.

Elizabeth walked down the steps, her head looking firmly at her feet. What would she find when she looked at the pavement in front of her? Would there be one of those chalk person outline like in all the cop shows? Or was that now just a cliché?

Most importantly, would there be blood? Somehow, she couldn't decide whether seeing it would help or not. Elizabeth closed her eyes and brought her head up. She took a deep breath. And she opened her eyes to look at the sky for a moment. Was Jason watching her do this?

Elizabeth looked down.

She studied the square of cement in front of her. She noticed right away the faint red traces on it, covering at least three of those pavement squares. It looked as though someone wanted all of the blood to go away.

Elizabeth felt yet another tear run down her face. She saw it plop on to the cement, mixing with Jason's washed away blood.

--- Alcazar's Yatch

Alcazar watched on as the nurse checked Jason Morgan's vitals. So far there had been no improvement, but the important part was that there hadn't been any decline in health either. He left the room soundlessly and went into his study.

On his desk, as promised, were the photos of Corinthos. Yes, the death of his friend was taking a toll on him. Though, death was a term he was using loosely.

He knew everything there was to know about the mob boss. He knew, no matter how hard those around him tried to hide it, that Corinthos handled death badly. He would be consumed with finding his friend's killer. Alcazar would start out slowly, influencing the mob bosses that operated in Port Charles. Once he was sure that he had the right support he would make his move. Corinthos didn't have Jason to pick up his slack; taking over his organization would not be hard.

Corinthos' determination to find his best friends "killer" would be his downfall.

The take-over was only a part of his plan, however. He needed Brenda back. Before the takeover he would make a trade. By that point when he asked Corinthos would be so desperate to get the ailing Morgan back that he wouldn't blink a eye at returning Brenda.

His past love for his dying best friend.

The plan was foolproof.

And even if there was a chance in hell that things could go wrong, he had Brenda. She wasn't a selfish person. If he told her the whole plan, how sick Morgan was, she would come with him. There was no doubt about it.

She hadn't even come back to tell them all that she was alive. She didn't want to hurt any of them. She would see how much Sonny was slipping and she would know that the only thing to make it right would be Jason.

There was a tentative knock on the door.

"Come in." Luis directed the visitor.

The nurse he had hired to take care of Morgan came into the room and walked up to the desk. "Mr. Alcazar, you asked me to tell you if there was any change in Mr. Morgan's condition." she started.

"Yes, I did. What is it?" he asked kindly.

"He's dying, sir. I can tell. The doctors were right, he wouldn't even make it through the night, most likely. The gunshot wound is too severe. Also he is running a very high fever." The nurse explained.

Luis nodded. It was time to pull that ace out of his sleeve.

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_Review, please!_


	10. Coming to the Church

**Shadowing Death:** Coming to the Church

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_Hello! I am so glad you all liked the last chapter. Thanks for the reviews. Just to give some sort of timeline, Jason has been "dead" for around a week. _

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--- Outside Queen of Angels Church

Sonny looked up at the church. This was going to be one of the worst days of his life. To say goodbye to Jason… to even consider it seemed wrong. He knew, without a doubt, that this day would be etched in his memory for the rest of his life.

For him to remember anything less, though, that would be a betrayal to Jason. He deserved this special kind of torture, a constant reminder of how he let down the one person who had never done the same to him. It would always be the memory in the back of his mind, there whenever he asked someone to trust him.

Carly had Michael by the hand and the two were walking slowly up to the front steps. Michael had taken on the Jason way of speaking, little more than monosyllables and grunts in the person's direction. Michael wasn't smiling, and Carly was still crying. Sonny didn't know how to fix that. He talked quietly to Michael and let Carly sit, alone, in Jason's apartment, but he wasn't sure if it was helping even a little. His eyes traced his wife and son as they entered the church.

With Carly and Michael safely inside, he let his eyes wander back to the street. A limo had pulled up, and he knew instantly who would emerge. He personally didn't really want them there. What had they ever done for Jason? Pile him down with unrealistic expectations? They had tried to change him, all the while unable to look him in the eyes without a stab of disappointment.

Carly had said, oh-so quietly and as though the words cost her something, that the Quartermaines loved him, no matter what had happened. They had just realized how awful they had been _after_ Jason had left them behind. Sonny wanted to ban them from the church, from Jason's grave, from even speaking of him. He wanted to hurt them like they'd hurt Jason.

He knew, though, that Jason wouldn't have wanted that. He had always kept the Quartermaines at bay, true, but somehow Sonny didn't think he would mind them being there. It wasn't as thought Sonny was going to let them add "Quartermaine" on the head stone or anything.

Monica Quartermaine, shaking and pale, was the first out of the car. Sonny had kept tabs on the whole family since Jason's death, and he knew she'd been in General Hospital. One look at her and Sonny realized that she was blaming herself for the same reasons he had wanted to keep them away. She knew what she had done to her son. Sonny couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

Emily Quartermaine came out next, holding her mother's hand. She was looking strong, not even her injury could keep her from looking anything but. Sonny was amazed how calm she looked. She was trying to be strong for her family. She held her mother's hand and checked behind her for Alan, as though she were minding them. Maybe they were too wrapped up in themselves to remember just how much Emily loved and depended on Jason, but Sonny wasn't. He knew, with painful certainty, that she would cry later, when she was alone.

Alan stood next to Emily and Monica silently, giving Sonny the chance to quietly observe the man he'd essentially replaced. This man called himself Jason's father, but fathers helped their sons with becoming a man, protected them and taught them what they needed to know to survive. Where was Alan when Jason needed that?

Despite what Jason wanted everyone to think, he was a boy when Sonny had met him, a little boy in man's body and a terrible situation. Alan should have been there to help him, he should have understood that his own pain at losing the son he'd had was less important than taking care of the one he _did_ have. He should have seen that Jason, however proud, had needed _someone_.

Sonny had seen it, even if he'd never dreamed of what Jason would come to mean to him. He had done his best to teach Jason what he needed to know; about respect, honor, how to take care of yourself and others, how to treat women, about good food. He had just helped Jason along as he struggled to figure out who exactly Jason Morgan was, and even after Jason had learned all he needed to know, become who he was meant to be, Sonny still stayed by with a helping hand. As Jason's father, it should have been Alan, but that selfish bastard couldn't stop looking at Jason Quartermaine long enough to see the truth about Jason Morgan.

Sonny was sure, and perversely pleased, that Alan had realized this.

By the time Sonny had gotten his thoughts cleared Edward was out of the car. He didn't look at anyone, didn't wait for his wife, instead he marched up the steps to the church as though he were entering a board room. Sonny narrowed his eyes at Edward's hand. He was fiddling with something, a picture of some sort. It didn't take much to guess of who.

Sonny looked back at the limo, the last occupant of it was out and crying already. Sonny's heart broke again. He had never seen Lila Quartermaine cry, and now he wished he had never seen it.

He looked away… this was getting too hard…

He could see someone coming up to him. Bobbie Spence was here, looking sad. After all of the times she had patched up Jason it all had come down to this. She touched Sonny's arm briefly before heading up to the church, on her way to comfort her daughter.

Ned Ashton and Dillon Quartermaine made their way up. Ned was looking a bit sadder than Dillon, who had never really met Jason. Sonny had to hand it to Ned. He was the first Quartermaine who had accepted Jason, pretty much from day one. He had tried his best to help him deal with their crazy family during his stay in the hospital and the even briefer stay at the Mansion.

A black SUV came up to the curb. The driver was Johnny. He gave the keys to the valet and waited for the other occupants of the car to get out. Francis and Max got out next. All three men had clenched jaws and hard eyes. Jason was their friend. Francis was taking this hard. He was blaming himself just as much as Sonny was. Well, almost as much. A fourth guard, Marco, made his way out of the way back. All four slowly walked to the entrance to the church. They gave him a somber glance and all of them nodded their heads to him. They were loyal guards. All of his men were crushed over Jason's death.

They would most likely all be here today. A few of the newer ones who didn't really know Jason offered to do the guarding of the warehouse and penthouse while everyone else was at the funeral, so everything was secure. He didn't need to worry. Well, not about business anyway.

He felt a hand gently shaking him out of his thoughts. When he looked up Luke Spencer was giving him a sympathetic smile. "Hey Corinthos, you looked like you were a million miles away there." He said quietly.

"Yeah, I was. Thanks for coming man." He said gratefully. He had Luke had been on good terms recently, but things where not as they used to be. If he was perfectly honest with himself, their relationship probably would never recover fully. Speaking terms, however, was a hard won relief. Behind Luke several of Sonny's other men started into the church. Benny and his wife were among them.

"Yeah, I figured I owed it to the kid. Second best valet I ever had after all." Luke cracked a goofy grin for Sonny's benefit.

Sonny nodded for Luke. Memory lane was somewhere he did not want to be. Luke patted him on the back and made his way inside.

To Sonny's great surprise, Audrey Hardy was right behind Luke as she entered the church. He shook off as support for Elizabeth as he turned back to the street. Lucky Spencer and his brother Nikolas got out of a car and walked up to the door. Lucky was once Jason's friend but that relationship had become as icy as Jason's with Nikolas. Sonny knew, however, that for Emily, they would put all that aside and show up.

AJ Quartermaine walked down the sidewalk and Sonny felt his blood boil. He didn't want Jason's brother there at all. The Quartermaines were one thing, he could understand why they were allowed. but AJ was someone who didn't deserve to be there. Then, with Michael in the room it was making him even angrier. Courtney got out of the car and wrapped her arm around AJ. She spotted Sonny and dragged AJ to him.

"What are you doing here? This is for people who cared about Jason. You didn't" Sonny hissed at the elder brother.

AJ looked at him in shock. "I may not have been his best friend. Hell, I may have been the biggest jerk in the world to him. But I will always love my little brother. It was like a knee jerk reaction when I saw him." AJ shook his head and looked away, as though these words weren't entirely for Sonny, "Or maybe if I was bad enough, a part of my brother would come out and try to save me. Or hell, even look at me without cold eyes." He said.

Sonny was stunned, AJ had sounded sincere enough, but he couldn't forget about Michael. "I've got almost my whole organization in there, AJ. A lot of guys that are upset about Jason being gone. The kind of guys who punch first and ask questions later. I can tell them to leave you alone today, but if you go near Michael or Carly, I'll tell them to shoot you dead. Got it?" Sonny asked.

AJ nodded as Courtney suppressed a glare at her brother. Today was not the day. "Thank you." AJ said to him quietly.

"Don't thank me. Thank Jason. You know, I have wanted to shoot you so many times now. Jason held me back. He wouldn't let anyone do that. You're alive because he stopped me and knowing you, I wasn't the only one. He isn't here to stop me anymore. Until you give me a reason to, put me in a situation he would have taken care of by sparing you, then I'll honor that." Sonny said as he turned away. All three of them looked at who was coming up to the church.

Elizabeth Webber had arrived.

* * *

_This was an awful chapter to write, but I hope it wasn't awful to read! Please, just a little review?_


	11. The Funeral

Shadowing Death: The Funeral  
  
Hello everyone. Thanks for all of the reviews for the fic. I have been putting this off for a while now. I do not want to write Jason's funeral. Fake as it is, the characters do not know that! So this is gonna be hard. It may turn to crap or it may be a tissue-needed chapter. I don't really know yet. If it does turn out bad, then you have my full apologies.  
  
This chapter has been making me worried. So I have to thank Carz for dealing with me while I wrote it. And for reading over it and telling me what she thought ( her thoughts on it were that I was spazing for no reason and it was great. That tends to happen a lot though. *Blushes*) . She definitely helps me out when I write things. So this is a big thank you to Sam!! You're the best. Thanks for all of the help and putting up with my craziness! I can be a spaz sometimes. Everyone, go check out all of her stuff, its amazing.  
  
Here it goes..  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Queen of Angels Church  
  
Sonny was the last to walk into the crammed church. Between the Quartermaine family, his whole organization of about fourty-five men, and the various others that had shown up it was a full house. Who would have guessed this? That Jason Morgan, who spoke in monosylables and lived life with few people around him would end up with a full church for his funeral.  
  
The word rang again and again in his head. Funeral. This was Jason's funeral. His coffin was sitting at the front of the room. He tried to divert his eyes from the wooden box and focus on the floor as he walked to his seat next to Carly. But no matter how much will power he used, his eyes kept traveling back to the box. Jason was in there.  
  
And he was dead.  
  
Sonny looked over to see his men filling one side of the church pews. In the front row of the other side sat Carly, Michael, Bobbie, Johnny, Francis and Elizabeth Webber. That striked him as somewhat amazing. Carly either hadn't noticed or decided that now it didn't matter. Either way that was where she deserved to be. In the front row. Behind them sat the Quartermaine family. A few of his men that were closer to Jason were sitting behind them. And so on the list went on. More and more people's somber faces.  
  
He had kept the other mob families away. Kept Tagliotti away, kept the five families from coming. He didn't want them there. Respect or no. They didn't deserve to be in the same room as Jason. He was better than them.  
  
The priest came up to the front of the church. Sonny found for the second time that he drowned out the words of the man. He didn't care about what God thought right now. God took away the best person he had ever met. Right now he was angry with God, with himself, with everything.  
  
He stirred himself out of his thoughts at the sight of Elizabeth Webber making her way to the podium.  
  
Elizabeth looked out at the crowd of people. She cleared her throat and bowed her head *Do it for Jason. You need to do this.* she told herself. She looked up and started to do one of the hardest things she would ever have to do.  
  
"I met Jason in a bar. You see, I wanted to forget. I wanted to act out and get myself from my life. And I was doing pretty well. I had guys around me and I was set to go. And Jason just rode to my rescue. He was good at that. I asked him if he knew where nowhere was. And his only response was that it was where he lived. Nowhere was a place that we started to go to together. You can find it on the back of his bike up at the moutain roads going eighty miles per hour. You can see the wind up there too. He saved me from myself. And my grief. From all of the expectations I was trying to live up to. He didn't expect anything. I got to save him later on in the snow. I didn't know it then but it was when I fell in love with him."  
  
Elizabeth stopped there to take a second to fight back the tears. Though Emily, Monica, Alan, her Gram, Lila and various others of the room didn't bother to do that themselves. Their tears ran unchecked down their faces.  
  
"Ironically enough, I realized I loved him in the same moment I realized why Sonny was standing at my door covered in blood. I knew the risks of his world. I've faced them a few times as it is. He knew them too. I think he liked it that way. I know he loved the danger. And I know he loved his job. But that doesn't help. Nothing can. With the exception of Jason. He seemed like a cold person to some people. But those were the ones he wanted to be cold to. When he was with someone he loved, someone who loved him back, he was anything but cold. His mission was to make all of your problems go away. And he almost always won."  
  
Liz stopped with a slight smile. She was rambling. But Jason was no where to be found. Who was going to call her on it now?  
  
"At first I was mad at him. I mean, he could aways read me like a book. He knew me better than I knew myself half the time. Didn't he realize how much I would need him? Or how hard this was going to be? Then I'd realize that he probably did. And that it must have been bad for him to give up. And that doesn't help anything. The only thing I can do now is wait. Wait until I see him again. Until I can see the wind, or go to nowhere. Wait until I can show him how good I got at pool. Wait until he can laugh at me for talking to myself while I paint. Or until I can jam gallons of soup into him again. Its going to be a long wait. I know that. But I guess that's what happens when you fall in love with someone, and then lose them." Elizabeth looked up. She wasn't adressing everyone else now. She was talking to Jason. "I love you, Jason. See you later."  
  
She got off the podium and prayed that her jelly-like legs would get her back to her seat. She sank down in the uncomfortable pew. Sonny was making his way up the the front.  
  
Sonny looked over to his wife and she gave him a sad smile. He took a deep breath and started his speech. "Jason was my best friend. I would have never guessed that it would end up with him as my friend though. He was the Quartermaine kid who dumped a table at Lukes one night. I knew the feeling, so I went out there after him. I'd heard that he was entirely different, that he wasn't the nice guy anymore. But when I got out there it seemed that everyone who said it was wrong. He didn't have a problem with me. I saw him again a while later. He'd come looking for me, to pay me back for cab fare. First time in my life I'd ever used the phrase "Magic cucumber sandwich". It was also the first time in my life that someone had wanted to be my friend. He didn't care that I was Sonny Corinthos. He might not have even known. But if he did it didn't seem to be a problem for him. I know that everyone here blames me for this. And I know their right."  
  
Sonny stopped and looked over to the casket. He nodded at it with his head. "Jason'd tell me if wasn't my fault. That it happened, and I wasn't to blame. That was the last thing he said to me actually. "It isn't your fault.". He was laying there bleeding to death and he took the time to tell me not to blame myself. Only Jason would do that. Only Jason would stand by someone who didn't deserve it. Only Jason would forgive when he was entitled to hate. For all of that he was the best person I will ever meet. I'll miss him. He was my little brother. And he's gone because of me." Sonny finished, unable to go on. He quickly sat down and wiped his eyes.  
  
Monica stood before everyone else managed to get the strength to get up. She was going to do this. She quickly walked up the front of the church and leaned against the podium for support. "I know that I don't deserve to come up here. That I failed my youngest son. No one knows that better than me. I was too blind to see the truth until he was out of the house. He told us all again and again, but we wouldn't listen. I wouldn't listen. It took seeing him destroy his room and yell "Him, not me. He's dead!" in my face. My son might not have wanted a mother. He needed one at first though. And he deserved one. Instead he got a woman who tried to make him be someone else. Someone he had no desire to be. I didn't realize how wrong I was. When I did he wanted nothing to do with me. And no one could blame him." Monica started speaking quietly at the begaining, but now her voice had gained strength. So had the tears flowing down her face.  
  
"I'll never know my child. My baby boy was a stranger. And now he always will be. And I can never be sorry enough for that. I could sit here and blame Sonny or even Jason for never letting me in. But I didn't deserve to be let in. I can only hope that he forgives me for all of it. I love you Jason." She said as her voice broke finally. She felt herself get guided back to her seat. She didn't realize it wasn't Alan doing the guiding. Sonny had helped her back to her pew. She also didn't notice the tears coming out of his eyes. But everyone else did.  
  
Carly covered Sonny's hand with her own. She was planning on going up next. But Michael had caught on to what everyone was doing. He wiped his face off and marched up to the front. He saw a chair that was sitting within ten feet of the podium. The little boy dragged the chair across the floor, not caring about the noise he was making. He postitioned the chair and then hopped up on it. Carly saw all of this and only started to sob. AJ watched his biological son doing this also. It actually didn't surprise him. But it surprised the hell out of some people in the room.  
  
"Hi. My Mommy said that Uncle Jason was in heaven now. And that he couldn't come visit. I guess that's right. I get what everyone's doing. They're talking about Uncle Jason. So I want to too. He was my bestest friend. He was teaching me how to fix his bike. And he promised to take me on a ride. Daddy didn't want me to, but Jason promised. I don't get to go on the bike ride though. I don't want everyone to be sad. Cause Uncle Jason hated it when people were sad. He tried to make it better. But he can't now. My Daddy says that if you go to heaven, you get to watch the people you loved. So now Uncle Jason has to watch us be like that. And that's gonna make him feel that way too. I don't want him to be sad. But I can't help it. Right after Mommy told me he had to go away, I wanted to be really sad. Cause then maybe he could find a way to come and make it better. But he didn't come. So I tired to be less sad, so he wouldn't feel bad that he couldn't make it better. I just wanted to make sure that everyone knew that they can't be sad anymore. I think missing is okay though. So if you want to miss him that's okay. Cause I really miss him. And I love him too, cause he's my friend. And my Uncle. Okay, I'm done now." Michael said all of this in a big rush. He was normally a fast talker. And everyone always told him to slow down. Not Uncle Jason though, he always understood what he was saying. He jumped down from the chair and dragged it back to the spot it had started out in.  
  
Sonny opened his arms as Michael rushed into them. He had a brave little boy. "I love you buddy." Sonny whispered into Michael's ear.  
  
"I love you too." Michael whispered back. Carly gave Michael's shoulder a pat before she walked up to the podium, beaming with pride for her son. He was the best thing that she had ever done. The best of her had been transferred to him. Once she reached the front her smile faded away. Her mommy-pride could only mask the grief for a few seconds.  
  
Carly looked out at everyone who sat in the pews. Suddenly she had no idea what to say. The thought brought the smile back to her lips. "How amazing is it? I can't come up with a thing to say. Jason would have been amazed. I know he wished for my speechlesness a few times. Or a few hundred. I'd harp at him, cry around him, talk forever on a unimportant subject. Most of you must know what I'm talking about. He always did. No matter how crazy of a plan I came up with, no matter how bad I screwed up or how many lives I smashed, he always got why. He knew I hadn't done it for bad reasons. That I had been trying to help. He never turned his back on me. And I deserved it the most, I know that. And he did too. But he didn't leave me. That wasn't Jason. He loved me. And so I was someone he took care of. Someone he saved when I crashed and burned. Which I did a lot. Whether it was taking care of my infant or hiding my frozen pizzas from Sonny. He did it. I needed him. And I can count on one hand the amount of times he's needed me. Really needed me. I mean sure, he'd tell me to leave Elizabeth alone, said he needed to live his own life, and I needed to let him. But the muffin can tell you all how well I listened. I didn't. And after sitting up here, listening to her, I realized I was wrong." Carly stopped to laugh here. "Another thing he would have loved to hear. God, this is hard." She stopped again when it hit her that he wasn't there to see all of it.  
  
She sniffed back a few tears and started again. "Maybe I was wrong. I chased away every female that came within five feet of him. Because none of them were good enough for him. Because no one would ever be. I didn't realize that my opninon didn't really matter in the subject." Carly glared at Sonny, who's dimples were on display. He was smiling at her through the tears.  
  
"Now I'm playing the what if game. What if I had pushed him towards her instead of a million feet in the opposite direction? He might have been with her. He might have still been here. But then Sonny wouldn't be. Or maybe we would have been all together, eating dinner while I railed on Elizabeth. Who knows? All I know is that if he was here right now, I would let him be with whoever he wanted. I'd let him wear what he wanted, instead of shopping for him and making try on all sorts of things. I wouldn't call him in the middle of the night instead of letting him sleep. Because he would be here. And I wouldn't be up here blabbing on and on, Michael wouldn't have lost his uncle. And Elizabeth wouldn't have to do this." Carly stopped to let the tears come out full force.  
  
"And maybe I wouldn't have lost him. Maybe he could still be here. With all of us. But he isn't. And he won't ever be again. And I think saying that is even harder than saying I was wrong or that my opinions of his love life don't matter. My best friend is dead. The guy I met in Jakes. The only person who could eat as much as me as fast. The only one who has stood by me for all of my crazy crap. The wild child who could go as fast as me. He's gone. He's dead. And part of me is dead with him." Carly shook her head sadly. Why couldn't they all realize this stuff before, when it mattered? She worked her way down to her seat and embraced Sonny once she got there.  
  
He gave her a comforting kiss on the forehead. By now the entire church was crying. During Elizabeth's eulogy Audrey had begun to cry. She hadn't realized how much her granddaughter loved Jason. And Audrey's heart broke for her. She suddenly felt a wave a guilt for every time she had lectured Elizabeth on the dangers of Jason Morgan. Truth be told, a broken heart was more dangerous than he could have ever been. Both Lucky and Nickolas had shed a few tears durning Monica's speech. They both thought of their mother at that time. But there were some people there who hadn't really stopped crying since the news of Jason's death had come out. Carly, Monica, Elizabeth, Lila were among those people. And in private, away from harsh stares of others, Alan, Edward, Emily, AJ and Sonny had cried for the fallen man. No one could have known how many people Jason's death would crush.  
  
Alan stared out at his wife. She was looking at him sadly. There was no small smile for comfort in front of him. He suspect Monica had forgotten how to use her face that way. Smiles would be rare from her. From him too. They thought that losing the son they cherished would be hard after the accident. "I've lost my son twice really. I don't know which was worse. Losing a son that I knew better than I knew myself. Someone who wanted to walk in my footsteps, who when I looked into their eyes, I saw a reflection of myself. Or losing a son who I didn't know. Who wouldn't let me know him. I lost that chance. It was almost as though I sat there, holding out hope that he would come to me and let me in. When I really should have gone to him. Tried to talk to him."  
  
Alan looked over at Sonny. "I should have been a real father to him. Instead I was a harsh person who he thought couldn't look him in the eyes without having a second of disappointment that there was no real recognition. He didn't like to be around me. He didn't like to talk to me. Or have me touch him. In fact, the first time he woke up after the accident, he was afraid of me. Of course, who could blame him? There was a strange man he'd never seen before telling him that he had missed him. And that everyone was worried. How proud I was. When he had no idea what I was talking about or why I was looking at him that way. I realized all that at that moment. And I tired to be comforting, I left the room to let him rest. But somewhere between then and the next time I saw him, I'd forgotten that. I just kept being the scary man who expected too much. And I didn't even realize it. I tried to push him to be someone he wasn't anymore. When I finally offered to help him figure out who he was at that point, it was already too late for my son to want anything but distance from me." Alan kept speaking the painful memories out for the room.  
  
"I used to think that my biggest regret was letting Jason go out after AJ to try to stop him from driving. I had grabbed him but he told me to stay with his mother, that he would take care of it. But now, I know its not my biggest regret. Its not trying harder with him after the accident. I just wish I had a chance now. But I don't."Alan ended his speech. He didn't want to keep talking anymore. He quickly moved back to his seat at Monica's side.  
  
In a move shocking almost the whole room Edward got up from his seat. Sonny was almost tempted to tell the old man to sit down. Knowing him he would try to make this Jason Quartermaine's funeral. Instead of the man that had actually died. But Carly put a hand gently on his shoulder. Sonny was still tense, but he would let Edward talk. If he mentioned anything about Jason Quartermaine, though, he would be out of the church.  
  
"I know I am the last person that should be up here. In fact, I am amazed that I got this far. The first time I met Jason Morgan I had come in quietly in the middle of the night. It was right after Ned had gotten himself arrested for something or another. The entire way to the hospital all I could think was how we had all missed Jason. Either he had ears like a bat or I was quite noisy. But he woke up and was watching me. I blabbered on about unimportant things. He had no idea what I was talking about. Then again, we rarely understood eachother. But finally he just asked me what I wanted. All I could tell him was that I wanted Jason." Edward glanced over at Lila. She nodded to him encouragingly. She knew him better than anyone. She knew how much he missed his grandson.  
  
He could see that Sonny was still glaring at him. But Carly seemed to be hanging on his every word. He took a brief second to look at little Michael. He was crying slightly. Michael, like Jason, would never know how much he loved them. But that was his own fault. And no one elses. He could blame AJ for the accident. But he couldn't blame him for this lack of closeness with Jason. That was his fault also.  
  
"And now, all I want again, is Jason. I don't even mean Jason Quartermaine. I would love a chance with Jason Morgan. But as everyone else that has come up here said, I will never get that chance."  
  
Edward decided that he was done and sat back down. He took Lila's hand into his own and kissed it. She smiled gently at him as Emily rose from her seat. She was trying her hardest to keep her tears in. Though they had spilled over a few times since the begaining of the service. She reached the spot everyone else had gone to for their eulogies and stopped for few seconds. She let a wave a calm silence rush over her. Then she started.  
  
"There aren't many people in the world I would trust without a moments hesitation with my life. Only a few people I could say for certain that they would do everything in their power to help me. If they were faced with being able to save me or their wildest dream, I know I would win out. Jason was one of those people. It didn't matter what the situation was. If I needed him, he was there. Whether it was saving me from being kidnapped, or sitting with me in a hospital during my rehab for months. He was there. No matter how much he hated hospitals, he was there with me. Because I needed him to be there. That was who he was. It didn't matter what he wanted or needed, it was what you wanted or needed that mattered to him. And that's the type of person that you don't meet all that much. He was special. And no one, no one, can replace him. No matter how good they are to me, no matter how many times I cry on their shoulder, or how many of my problems they fix. No one will ever be as good to me as Jason." Emily let out a few tears finally. She didn't want to crumble right now. But she knew that if she kept going, she would. Emily wordlessly moved back to her seat. The second she sat down her face was in her hands, the emotions overwhelming her temporarily. She would get under control in a minute or two, but for now she allowed herself to cry. Johnny, who was sitting behind her, reached forward and rubbed her back soothingly.  
  
Seeing that no one else planned on coming up, the priest started his portion of the service. The church sat in silence, no one spoke a work other than the priest.  
  
Other than a few muffled sobs, there was no one other than him talking. Most people sat there, crying silently.  
  
  
  
Please let me know what you all think of the chapter. Though, I swear, this is the last funeral I ever write. 


	12. Reunion Through Kidnapping

Shadowing Death: Reunion through Kidnapping  
  
Hello everyone! Thanks for all of the great reviews.  
  
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAM! This chapter is for C.C Carz, cause today is her birthday. So she gets the chapter. I promised the liason reunion for her birthday and I have now delivered! Have a awesome birthday, Sam.  
  
Okay guys, the last time we saw Jason was two days ago. Yesterday was the funeral in the fanfiction world. Okay? Got it?  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Alcazar's Yatch  
  
Luis went over the nurses report. Things with Morgan weren't looking good. According to her, unless there was a drastic change soon, Jason Morgan would be dead by the end of the night.  
  
Miss Webber had gone to the funeral the day before. Unfortunately, she had to be there, so he'd had to wait to grab her. There was no way that anyone would buy that she had missed Morgan's funeral. So they'd all crossed their fingers and prayed that Jason would last the day. He had, barely. Now it was time to bring him some get-well insentive.  
  
The other downside to the funeral was Jason was too weak to be moved without killing him. So they also had to pray that no one would open the casket, because there was only weights equivelant to Morgan's weight in there. And that would definitely hinder his plans considerably. He couldn't tip anyone off to Jason Morgan's presence on his yatch. And especially not the fact that his presence was a live one.  
  
"Mr Alcazar?" A guard spoke through the door. Then knocked so he was sure to be heard.  
  
"Yes?" Luis prompted. He needed to get this done today. He had the best of his men on the kidnapping of Miss Webber. He didn't need a mess up like last time. The men were to go in, grab her, use the cloth with the passing out agent added to it, get her out and on to the yatch, then into Morgan's room. No problem. Probably one of their easiest assignments yet. Also the most important.  
  
There would be no forgiveness if they got this wrong. They'd be worse off than Morgan if they screwed this up.  
  
And they knew it.  
  
"We're ready to go get Miss Webber." The guard informed his boss.  
  
And Alcazar just smiled.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Elizabeth's Studio  
  
Elizabeth started at the painting. She hadn't been able to paint anything in a while. Her inspiration was gone. But she had looked through some of her finished pieces. And there it was. Sitting there, just where she had left it.  
  
The Wind.  
  
She loved that painting. And Jason had loved it too. It was his, and he had died. He hadn't ever really taken the painting from her. Saw it when he came to see her. But he never took it with him when he left.  
  
Too bad he'd taken her heart instead.  
  
Elizabeth didn't pay attention to the sounds coming from outside her door. Her focus was the painting. She wished that she was back on Jason's bike, holding on to him, feeling him laugh at the wind as they speed past.  
  
The door to her studio slammed open and Elizabeth shoved The Wind under her couch to make sure it wasn't hurt by anything that might happen. Three well built men in black swarmed into her small studio.Elizabeth tried to think of something to do. One man had stayed behind to giard the door. He was obviously making sure she didn't slip past his friends and run out and get help.  
  
If she struggled, she could only be hurt more. So Elizabeth had no choice but to let them shove a cloth in her face. She knew what it was the moment it was against her nose.  
  
Her last thought was of Jason. How she wished he was there to save her. How she wished he was just simply there. And then she felt herself fall and be caught. But after that, she didn't feel anything.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Twenty Minutes Later, Alcazar's Yatch, Jason's Room  
  
Elizabeth groaned slightly. She had let herself get kidnapped. What was she thinking? Okay, so maybe it was pretty much her only option. But she hadn't fought at all. She mentally slapped herself.  
  
She decided to take stock of her surroundings. She was laying on something soft and comfortable. They must have put her on a bed. It was warm in the room.  
  
Elizabeth listened closely. Beeping. A quiet, steady beeping noise was filling up the room. That and something that sounded a lot like someone's breathing. Someone who was obviously not feeling too good.  
  
Elizabeth kept quiet. There was obviously someone else in the room with her. She kept listening to the sounds of the room. She heard a soft moan, and it sounded like it was a pained one.  
  
Her curiosity was getting the best of her. She carefully opened her eyes. She did a quick glance around the room. It was decorated lavishly. She was in the lap of luxury. Elizabeth saw a bed not far from her. It was surrouned by machines. It was obviously a life support set-up. The beeping she had heard was coming from one of the machines. Elizabeth carefully got out of her bed. She walked the length of the room before stopping at the foot of the bed. She felt her heart speed up. Air rushed from her lungs. She blinked her eyes a few times. But everytime she opened them again, he was still there.  
  
She stared at the man in front of her.  
  
"Jason." She breathed out. She had to be dreaming. She was just at his funeral. Sonny had come to her. Covered in blood. There had been so much blood on him, that there was no way that Jason had survived.  
  
Elizabeth felt her legs move her to the bedside. She stood there, without moving, staring at him. He was asleep. Sweat beaded across his forehead and chest. Part of his chest was covered in a bandage. His head moved to the other side of the pillow as he moaned again. Whatever he was doing here, it was being done in pain. She felt her hand sneak out and reach for his forehead. But she stopped herself just short of touching him. She could feel the heat his skin was radiating. He had to be real. But if he wasn't..  
  
She wouldn't be able to handle it.  
  
But she had to know either way. She had to know if he was alive. If she hadn't lost him. She let her hand move out to him again. With a deep breath she touched him.  
  
He was real.  
  
He was alive.  
  
Elizabeth felt a tear trail down her face. He wasn't dead. He had lived. Did Sonny know? Had this been a plan to keep Jason safe? No, it couldn't have been. Sonny had looked too devestated. She could see it in his eyes. There was no way he was behind this. Elizabeth felf herself sink down on her knees. She was eye level with Jason. She could see he was clearly trembling.  
  
Elizabeth reached up again and ran her hand across his face. She didn't know if she was trying to make him feel better, or her. But either way, she was doing it. She let her fingers run through his hair.  
  
Elizabeth was too entranced with the sight of Jason to hear the door open behind her. But she did hear the man speak. "Welcome to my yatch, Miss Webber."  
  
Elizabeth turned around, and stood up in front of Jason to protect him in the process. This was the man responsible. The one she had hated since Sonny came to her door. The one she wanted dead. He'd hurt Jason.  
  
She stood her ground standing in front of the man she loved, protecting him as he would have done for her.  
  
  
  
And here it ends for now. Good birthday chapter Sam?  
  
PLEASE REVIEW! 


	13. Captive Audience

Shadowing Death: Captive Audience  
  
Hello everyone. Thanks for all of the reviews for the last chapter. So glad that you are all happy that they are together again. I'm quite happy too! Here it goes.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Alcazar's Yatch  
  
"How sweet, protecting him. Well, don't worry. Hurting him isn't in my best intrest." Alcazar assured Elizabeth in a patronizing tone.  
  
"You shot him!" she pointed out. She wanted this man to pay. Pay for all of her tears. For all of the pain he was causing Jason. For all of the grief that everyone was going through. The man acted like none of this really mattered. Like shooting someone wasn't a big deal. When in reality he had affected more people than Elizabeth cared to count.  
  
"It was supposed to be in the arm. My gunman was too good." He said as though shooting someone in the arm was perfectly acceptable.  
  
"But you were going to hurt him. What do you want? And who are you?" Elizabeth inquired. She wanted to know why all of this had happened. Why Jason had been shot. Why this man had gone to all the trouble as to fake his death.  
  
"Oh, I'm so sorry. How rude of me. Luis Alcazar. What I want isn't something you need to know. You're here for one reason. Morgan wasn't doing too good. Still isn't actually. And my doctors informed me that he called out for an Elizabeth. You are here to keep him alive." He told her as he left the room. "A nurse will be in to check on him soon."  
  
Alcazar closed the door without another word to Elizabeth. She knew it wasn't worth it to pound on the door to demand answers. She turned back to Jason, feeling relieved that for the time being he was going to be safe. Or at least as safe as she could keep him. She saw a chair in the corner of the room and dragged it to his bedside.  
  
"Jason?" she called quietly. She wasn't sure if he could hear her. Or if he even knew that he wasn't alone anymore. He didn't respond her her quiet questioning. "I can't believe you're real." She whispered as she picked up his hand.  
  
Her other hand resumed its position on his forehead. She ran her hand across his face, she was amazed at how hot is his skin was. He leaned into her touch. She realized that her hands were cold. And that probably felt good to him, even though he wasn't awake. Elizabeth let go of his hand and got up. She walked around the room.  
  
There were three doorways. One was the one Alcazar went through. She didn't need to try to open it to know it was locked. The second door was a closet, one of which that was filled with clothes for both her and Jason. She didn't bother to look through them now. The last door was a bathroom.  
  
Elizabeth stepped inside the smaller room. A shower, toilet, sink and mirror were the furniture of the room. It was similar to the outside, just like a hotel. There were even hand towels.  
  
Elizabeth suddenly got an idea. She snatched up one of the towel and ran it under the cold water. After wringing it out slightly in the sink she walked back to Jason. She sat down next to him in the chair and gently placed the towel on his forehead.  
  
Jason flinched away at first but then settled down. She picked his hand back up and held it in her two smaller hands. She leaned down to his ear. "You have to be okay Jason. I'm not going to another one of your funerals for a long time. I'm here for you. Don't make me lose you again. I can't survive it. I'm right here Jason. You and I are going to be okay, we'll get out of here." She whispered. She meant every word of it.  
  
She watched his face for any movement. There was none. She couldn't help but wonder why this man wanted them on the boat. Well, more so Jason on the boat. It had to be mob related. But was it really worth all of the trouble. She would figure all of it out though. She had to, for Jason. He would need to worry about himself and not trying to understand the man that they were being held captive by. He needed her. For so long it had been her needing him, but now she could pay him back. Take care of him.  
  
Jason moaned again. His eyes fluttered for a second before opening. The blue she loved so much shone through.  
  
"Elizabeth?"  
  
  
  
Hehe! Sorry for the shortness, and the cliffhanger. Well, not so much sorriness for the cliffhanger. You'll all have to wait for the next chapter.  
  
PLEASE REVIEW! 


	14. Paternal Talks

Shadowing Death: Paternal Talks  
  
Hello everyone! Thanks for all of the reviews for the last chapter. Have I mentioned lately how much I love you all? No? Well, now you know. I can't really remember the last time I posted, so if its been a while, then sorry. This isn't going to be amazingly long. Just a shorter chapter.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Corinthos Penthouse  
  
Sonny sat silently drinking in the dark. The scotch burned his throat. The tears burned his eyes. He was tired, so damned tired. They had turned up no leads on who killed Jason, so he was frustrated on top of that. The never ending guilt was always right there, threatening to over throw him at any point in time. And if the guilt didn't take him over, the sadness that pierced through his heart would.  
  
He didn't deserve to be here. To be alive. Jason should be breathing still, not lying cold in some coffin. Michael had asked him that. Wouldn't Uncle Jason be cold and lonely, having to sit outside by himself?  
  
Sonny didn't want to think about that. He wanted to push all thoughts of Jason out of his mind. But whenever he did, whenever he had a moment free of all the guilt and no thoughts of his fallen friend filled his mind, a flash of a memory would come to him. Something Jason had said to him, an image of him, seeing him die.  
  
Jason yelled at him in his dreams. Told him that it was all his fault. Or begged Sonny to help him, to save him.  
  
That was why he was tired, because he'd stopped sleeping. No amount of sleep was worth that. Worth having Jason cry in front of him. Worth seeing Elizabeth fall to the ground in tears again. It wasn't worth dreaming the funeral again. Or seeing Carly's fears in his dreams.  
  
"Mr Corinthos? Alan Quartermaine is here to see you." Johnny said after knocking and poking his head in. "Should I tell him to leave?"  
  
Sonny could detect the hint of concern in Johnny's voice. He knew that he must not be the prettiest of pictures. Unshaven, rumpled clothes, crystal glass of scotch in his hand, silent tears running down his face.  
  
But for the moment, he didn't really care. "Send him in."  
  
"You sure Boss?"  
  
Sonny didn't turn to look at Johnny. "I said, send him in."  
  
He heard Johnny open the door wider and footsteps aproaching, but he didn't care about that either.  
  
Alan was shocked. This was the great and mighty Sonny Corinthos? This was the man that his son had died for? "I want to know who killed Jason."  
  
"Me too."  
  
Alan was confused, Sonny didn't know? Should he have men on this? Alan shook his head. "You don't know?"  
  
Sonny took a long sip of the burning liquid. "No, I don't know. I intend to find out though." He sighed. "Is that all you want?"  
  
Alan was ready to throttle Sonny. Yes, the man looked like hell. And had it been anyone else, his heart would have gone out to him, but it wasn't any other man, it was Sonny Cortinthos. The reason his son was dead. The reason his heart had been ripped out. "This is what my son died for? This is why he's gone? For you? You aren't worth it."  
  
Sonny threw the glass against the wall, startling Alan somewhat. He jumped up and walked to Alan. The older man could clearly see the tears now. "Don't you think I know that? Don't you think that everyday I live with the fact that I am not worth it? That he should be here. And I should be the one dead? I know that Alan. I know that I'm not worth it. But he is, or was. And I'd do anything to have him back, anything. But I can't do a damned thing."  
  
"You don't give a damn about him. You're just upset that now you have to interview new enforcers for your mob." Alan shot back, his pain clearly shooting through.  
  
Sonny got quiet for a second. "No, I could care less about this god damned mob. He was my enforcer, yes. But he was my brother too. And that's more important than his job title. He took care of things when I couldn't. He stayed with me when everyone else left me behind, when he should have left too. I don't care what you say Alan. Not only do I already think everything you've said. But I have no respect for you."  
  
Alan watched, too shocked to say anything. Sonny turned around and walked to the windows to look out. "He would swear up and down that he wasn't a kid. But he was, he needed someone to show him out to act. How to treat people. And you were supposed to do that. He needed you to open your goddamned eyes and see the truth. That your precious Jason Quartermaine was gone. And that he was replaced by a scared kid. But you didn't. You just bogged him down with things he couldn't handle."  
  
Alan looked down, he knew that Sonny was right. But the other man wasn't done quite yet.  
  
"Do you know why he wanted to work for me? Yeah, he needed the money. And yeah, he liked that it was dangerous. But you know the real reason? I told him that the Quartermaines had no power in my world. And he said that it was a world that he wanted to be apart of. You and your family were the reason he worked for me. You barged into every job he got before hand. And so he went and found a job that you couldn't touch." Sonny said. He was vaugely aware that Jason might be mad at him for revealing all of this to his father. But right now, Sonny was hurting, and he wanted Alan to hurt with him. This man didn't deserve to call Jason his son.  
  
Alan opened his mouth to speak. But again, Sonny cut him off.  
  
"Get out. You have no reason to be here."  
  
"I loved my son. I know I failed him." Alan whispered. But Sonny heard him just the same.  
  
"I know." A beat passed before either spoke again. "Now get the hell out."  
  
  
  
Hehe, more angst for you. I am sorry to tell you all that you won't get another chapter until Thursday at the earlist. I have midterms all next week. That's why I'm trying to get out a chapter of all of my fics, to tide you all over. So you have to wait to see Jason talking to Elizabeth.  
  
Yeah, I know, I suck.  
  
But please, REVIEW anyway. 


	15. Piecing It Together

Shadowing Death: Piecing It Together  
  
Hello everyone! Now this is the part where I would normally thank all of the reviewers, but since there were none, I can't. So that leads me to believe that there really isn't much of an intrest left in the story. Either way, I'm giving everyone (and the lurkers) the benefit of the doubt and posting another chapter. But guys, if there are people reading, please review. If I get no reviews or under five again, I'm not posting anymore. Okay? I was supposed to go on hiatus, but I'm holding back until after my February break. So in the begaining of March expect me to drop off the planet for a while. I should be back by late March or April at the latest. Sorry about that.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Alcazar's Yatch  
  
Elizabeth couldn't help the silly grin that came over her face. He was awake. And staring at her with a look of confusion and pain. Not that she could blame him. "Jason. Oh god, how do you feel?"  
  
"Wh-what happened?" he whispered to her. His voice was as though he were exhausted and couldn't raise the volume much higher. It was probably a ture statement. He slowly moved his head to look around him. She could tell he was mentally going over what the inside of everyone of Sonny's safe houses looked like. He turned back with her when he couldn't match his suroundings to any place he had ever been before.  
  
"How do you feel?" She asked him again. She didn't want to get into what had been going on. He shouldn't worry about that right now. All he needed to worry about was getting well. Because she couldn't handle losing him again. She had barely handled it the first time. It was something she knew she couldn't do again.  
  
Jason squinted his eyes at her, as though she was hazy or far away. Either he was too out of it to realize she hadn't answered his question or he was choosing not to get into it now. She wasn't sure which one was better. "Like I got shot."  
  
Elizabeth was somewhat relieved he knew what had happened. Because if she had to explain it she would have to get into where they were.  
  
Wherever that actually was.  
  
Jason moved one his hands up to touch the bandage. Then he looked back at her, eyes wide as though he'd had a sudden thought. "Sonny?"  
  
"He's fine Jason. Its okay." She reassured him. Truth was Sonny Corinthos was probably anything but fine at the moment, considering he still thought that Jason was dead. But that was something else she wasn't going to be bringing up anytime soon. She knew that Jason was asking if Sonny had been hurt. Physically. And he hadn't, so it wasn't really a lie.  
  
"Brenda?" he asked her.  
  
It was Elizabeth's turn to squint at him. Her eyes narrowed as she tried to figure out what he was talking about. Brenda Barrett? The dead model who Sonny had nearly married. She remembered going to that almost wedding. She'd conned Lucky into taking her. She had also sat there in awe as Jason walked in the church.  
  
It was amazing how things turned out.  
  
But all of those memories didn't help in determining what he meant. Brenda was dead, she had been for years. Was he talking about someone else? "Brenda who, Jason?"  
  
"I s-saw her. She was there, at the church." He said, and she could tell by his voice that he was just as confused as she was. It wasn't every day you saw someone who was supposed to be dead. And she could relate to him with there. She was staring at him, and he was supposed to be dead. And appearantly Jason had seen the dead Deception model before or after he had been shot.  
  
Jason tried to explain it to her. And to make sense of it for himself. "Sonny was staring at her. Sh-he was inside the church....staring back at him. And then she was next to me, after..." he trailed off, lost in thought. His mind was slightly fuzzy from there. Did Sonny get him away from there? But Jason could have sworn he had heard that priest saying that he had called an ambulence.  
  
Things didn't add up.  
  
And he had no clue where he was. He wasn't at one of Sonny's safe houses. And even if he was, how did Elizabeth get there? Where was Sonny?  
  
Had he really seen Brenda?  
  
"Brenda's dead Jason." Elizabeth reminded him. Though in the back of her mind she knew that things had just gotten that much more complicated.  
  
  
  
Yep, Elizabeth, you're right. The stakes are higher. I might be able to get one more chapter out before I go away, but don't count on it. That is, if there is going to be another posted chapter. So, please, REVIEW! 


	16. Close Your Eyes

Shadowing Death:  
  
Hey everyone! Thanks for all of the awesome reviews. You are all great. Yes, I'm back!  
  
Its been two days since the last chapter.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Corinthos Morgan Warehouse  
  
Sonny ran a hand over his tired eyes. He should have known this would start.  
  
It was common knowledge that he and Jason had been a perfect team. Whatever part of a problem one couldn't see, the other could. They trusted eachother completely and in the buisness world they had practically been able to read eachother's minds.  
  
Sonny had the experience and cunning to make the territory run smoothly. He was able to deal with the Five Families better than anyone. His words were feared. Jason was smart and had good instincts. No one could lie to him without him knowing. He was the best there ever was in the role of enforcer. And his loyalty was never questioned.  
  
But now Jason was gone. And day by day, Sonny was dying with him. The mob families knew that. They all thought that now was the perfect time to strike. And Sonny wasn't entirely too sure that they were wrong.  
  
He suddenly couldn't see why this all meant so much to him. Why the power was so important. But then again, it was the power he had that would take down Luis Alcazar.  
  
He knew that the man was in Port Charles. Brenda had told him about a yatch that Luis had. But there were no yatchs in the Port Charles harbor. Which meant that Luis was hiding himself well. Sonny would find the man though. And he would make Luis pay with his life.  
  
Slowly.  
  
Sonny looked back down at the report. Three of his men were dead. Ambushed on their way to deliver some documents. There was no doubt in his mind who had done it.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Docks  
  
Jasper Jacks should be a happy man. He was a newlywed to a woman he loved. But somehow, there was some sort of feeling in him that he couldn't quite put a finger on.  
  
Unease didn't cover it properly. It was as though something was going on, concerning him and he couldn't find out what. The whole world knew something that he didn't, and when he found out his whole world would be smashed.  
  
"Hello, Mr Jacks."  
  
Jax turned around, wary of the unknown voice. He couldn't place it. The man was dressed in a expensive italian suit. He had slicked back dark hair and was completely a stranger to Jax. He'd never seen him before.  
  
"Have we met?"  
  
The man laughed. Then shook his head. "No. We have a mutual, um, friend. And I have buisness to do with you."  
  
Jax narrowed his eyes. "And what buisness would that be?"  
  
Again, the man laughed. He seemed to be taking great pleasure in this conversation. But again, for the life of him, Jax did not know this man. "I suppose I should introduce myself?"  
  
Jax nodded, "That would be the polite thing to do. Considering you seem to know me."  
  
"Luis Alcazar." The man, Mr Alcazar it seemed, said to him.  
  
Jax quickly wracked his brain for all of the people who could fit that name. But he was sad to say that he had never met anyone with the last name of Alcazar. "I suppose I should have heard of you?"  
  
"No, not really. In fact, I would have been surprised if you had."  
  
Jax narrowed his eyes, not liking this man one bit. "Then how is it you know me? And, again, what buisness do you need to do with me?"  
  
"Brenda Barrett told me."  
  
Jax stood shocked at the man's, Alcazar it seemed, words. "Brenda?"  
  
The man smiled a smile devoid of all feeling. "Yes, she did in fact live. She had been with me."  
  
Jax felt a glimmer of hope like he hadn't in years. He started, wide-eyed, at the man. He had so many questions to ask. But before the words could rush themselves out of his mouth, Alcazar had a gun trained on him.  
  
Without a word to Jax he pulled the trigger. Jax didn't even have time to think before he fell to the ground with a bullet hole between the eyes.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Alcazar's Yatch  
  
Elizabeth felt her eyes start to droop. She had stayed with Jason non-stop since she'd gotten there. He showed some signs of improvement, but survival was not a guarantee. The nurse came and kept Elizabeth posted, every hour, on the hour. Elizabeth liked the woman, but knew not to trust her. She worked for Alcazar, that made her the enemy.  
  
Jason's fever was down to a manageable level. But he'd been sleeping deeply since the last conversation they had.  
  
The conversation that was making her head spin. Jason must have been talking about Brenda Barrett, and he seemed convinced that she had been there. But if Brenda was dead then how could she have been? All of it had to be connected.  
  
"Elizabeth."  
  
Elizabeth looked down at Jason, his eyes were half open and staring right at her. His whisper made the whole world seem better.  
  
"Jason! You're awake again. How do you feel?" she quickly through in.  
  
"Like I'm going to hate the question soon." He told her with a twinkle in his eye. She kenw he was teasing her to make her feel better, but that didn't answer her question.  
  
"Jason..." she started.  
  
"I don't feel good. Better than before, but not so good anyway. What about you, you look tired." He asked her, clearly concerned for her. His hand slowly traveled up her face. His thumb swiped across the bags that had formed under her eyes.  
  
"I'm fine Jason." She told him, more concerend for him then her sleep depervation.  
  
"Don't lie to me." He said seriously, looking her straight in the eyes.  
  
Elizabeth sighed and held his hand to her face. She knew she couldn't hide anything from him. He knew her too well. "I'm just tired Jason."  
  
"Then go to sleep." He said as though it were the easiest thing in the world.  
  
Elizabeth smiled at his concern for her. It was amazing that he was the one lying there, hooked up to life support and dealing with a hole in his chest, and she was the concern because her sleeping habits hadn't been the greatest. "I will later Jason. I want to stay with you."  
  
"You can't sl-sleep and stay with me?" he asked her.  
  
Elizabeth laughed. "No, this chair isn't that comfy Jason. I'd have one hell of a backache tomorrow."  
  
Jason shook his head slightly. "No, sleep on the bed."  
  
Elizabeth's eyes widened on their own. He was shot, didn't he understand that? This was classic Jason. Soon he'd be telling her that they may as well make the best of their captivity together and start up a workout routine.  
  
That was, if he actually knew that they were technically kidnapees.  
  
"Jason, are you crazy!? I'll hurt you." She told him, a bit louder than she wanted to.  
  
Her loudness didn't faze him in the slightest. "Sleep on my good side. It'll be okay." He told her.  
  
Elizabeth was about to come up with another argument as to why they should not be doing that, but Jason beat her to it.  
  
"Please Elizabeth, I need you. Just for tonight."  
  
Elizabeth felt her resolve fall away. She couldn't deny him anything, not now anyway. And certainly not when he was looking at her like a lost child. Elizabeth nodded and walked to the other side of the bed. She gently as possible eased her way down on the bed. She positioned herself on her side, facing Jason.  
  
The sides of their heads touched and Elizabeth wrapped her arm around his. Jason sighed contently and fell back into sleep. Elizabeth studied him for a moment before she couldn't stay awake any longer.  
  
She fell asleep with a smile on her face and her body curled around Jason's.  
  
  
  
Mushy enough for you? I was planning a cliffhanger but I figured that since I killed Jax then it was only fair that I balanced that out with some fluff.  
  
Please review! 


	17. Tell Me PART ONE

Shadowing Death: Tell Me  
Part One  
  
Hey everyone. Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter. I went back through some chapters and realized I left something out. So that will be here, along with some more liason. That talk, you know the one.  
  
This is the next morning  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Monica's Hospital Room  
  
Monica sat up in the bed. She stared out the window blindly, not really seeing the beautiful day that was outside. She didn't care if the sun was shining or not anymore.  
  
She'd been in the drab hospital room since the day after Jason died. She had only left it to attend his funeral. She didn't go out for walks like the doctor suggested, nor did she go home. She just sat in the bed staring at the wall, reliving Jason's life in her mind. All of Jason Quartermaine's. And as much of Jason Morgan's as she knew happened. There wasn't a lot and it wasn't soon after she replayed the accident and the first few months after before she had to start again with the day he came to live with them.  
  
Monica's fear was that she would forget something. That as she got older, things would become less sharp in her mind. She didn't want Jason's face when he was a child to fade from her memory. To forget him knocking over her vase with a soccer ball would be a crime. All of the memories she had of him had to stay fresh in her mind. If she forgot them she didn't know what she would do.  
  
The spent woman ignored the tentative knock on her door and continued reliving her son's soccer game.  
  
The knock came again and this time it was a bit more forced. Whoever it was wasn't going to leave her alone.  
  
The door opened and Carly Corinthos came through. Monica stared at the woman whom she had believed for years destroyed both her son's lives. Both blondes spent a moment making a through inspection of the other. And after a few seconds they both came to the conclusion that the other looked like crap.  
  
"Hello Monica. I need a favor."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Skye and Jax's House  
  
Skye Jacks rang her hands back and forth. Where was Jax? He had left last night and hadn't returned yet.  
  
This was not the usual way new brides spent their honeymoons, Skye throught dryly. Wherever Jax was he would come back with a good excuse, a present maybe. Knowing Jax for him to be away without word it had to be something incredibly romantic.  
  
That's what she told herself again and again. That nothing was wrong and Jax would be home soon with soemthing to show her. That was how he was.  
  
Skye could hear a car coming up their extreamly long driveway and dashed out. She nearly knocked herself over when she saw it was a police car. The red-headed woman felt her heart rate speed up. As long as no one said anything was wrong then there was nothing wrong. Easy as that.  
  
"Hello, Detective Taggert." Skye greeted when the detective reached her on the porch. She was trying to keep her voice light and ignore the look on his face.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Sonny Corinthos's Office  
  
"Its all right here, Boss." Benny said as he dropped a report onto Sonny's desk. He had been eyeing his boss carefully since he got in the room. In fact, every time he was in the presence of Sonny he watched him carefully. Jason's death was killing him slowly. Just like Benny knew it would.  
  
Sonny ran his hand over his tired face as he read over what Benny had brough. "Can't say I'm too sad about Candy-boy." Sonny said quietly.  
  
"Jasper Jacks was dead on arrival to the hospital. I believe that Taggert is on his way to tell Skye Chandler about the whole thing." Benny informed him, spewing off the facts as though he had the report in front of him.  
  
"Bullet hole to the brain. No witnesses, prints or evidence." Sonny read off. "Why do I get the feeling that everything is connected?"  
  
Benny nodded, having gotten the same assumption himself. "Luis Alcazar."  
  
Sonny's eyes hardened at the mere mention of the name. But Benny was right none the less. The man who killed Jason had killed Jax.  
  
"So this jackass is still walking around Port Charles. Damnit, Benny!" Sonny yelled as he slammed his palm onto the desk. "Why in hell can't we find this guy?"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Alcazar's Yatch  
  
Elizabeth moaned in disappointment as she slowly woke up from her sleep. She hadn't slept that good in a long time. Then again, her sleeping partner and location would have to be the cause for her excellent night.  
  
Her eyes stubbornly opened to examine him. Jason was still sleeping and showed no intentions of waking up any time soon. Which was exactly what he needed.  
  
Her whole body protested as Elizabeth forced herself out of bed. The little porthole in their room showed a beautiful day. Never in her life did Elizabeth think she would miss the outdoors as much as she did right then. She and Jason could have had a excellent ride all morning.  
  
Thinking about that type of thing wasn't going to help her much. And definitely not Jason.  
  
The door to the bathroom was already open, signifying that the maid had already been there to take her clothes out of the hamper and clean up their room. That maid and the nurse were the only people that Elizabeth or Jason came into contact with.  
  
She squirted the toothpaste onto her brush and started with her morning ritual. Elizabeth hated to admit it, but she'd started her own routine here. She woke up early generally, checked on Jason and did whatever he needed. Then she would go in the bathroom, shower and change. Normally she would sit with Jason for a few hours until the nurse came in to take care of Jason. They'd make small talk on topics like Jason's health or the book that the nurse had recommended her before the young woman left them there again. After that Elizabeth would eat lunch while watching television. The news was the annoyance of her existance.  
  
Day after day she heard more bullshit about Jason's death. How Baldwin was trying to find the killer. Jason's "murder" was becoming a high-profile case. After the PCPD's crash and burn cases against Sorel's murderer and Alcazar's murderer they couldn't afford to let Jason's killer go free. The Quartermaines had been oddly quiet during the police investgation, as did Sonny. The press expected a bloodshed once the murderer was found.  
  
And Elizabeth hoped to god that they were right.  
  
Once she was done in the bathroom Elizabeth quickly stepped out to see if Jason had stirred at all. She wanted to make damn sure he wouldn't wake up alone while she was showering.  
  
If she had it her way, he wouldn't be alone ever again. If he needed something she wouldn't be there to get it for him. On top of that Elizabeth didn't want to give him much time to focus on his surroudings. She was amazed he hadn't asked yet.  
  
What would she tell him?  
  
"Oh, sorry Jason, everyone you love and everyone you hate all think you're dead. Me too until a few days ago. But then, the guy who kidnapped you kidnapped me so we could be together. And so now we're stuck here until you're well enough for him to start the next part of his plan."  
  
Yep, that would go over real well. He wouldn't be able to rest if he knew what was going on. Jason would try to fix all of the problems that they were all having at the moment. He would try to get himself and her to safety.  
  
It was one of the more endearing things about him. And as of now, the most frustrating.  
  
Elizabeth stepped out of the bathroom and over to his bed. Before she could make her guess of how long he would sleep the door opened again. The nurse was a bit early. Jason must have needed tests this morning.  
  
"Goodm-" Elizabeth started as she turned around. But her greeting died on her lips once she saw who had entered their room.  
  
"Goodmorning to you too, Miss Webber." Luis Alcazar greeted cheerily.  
  
Her eyes narrowed as she studied him. Elizabeth said nothing yet though.  
  
"How is our Mr Morgan doing this morning. The nurse told me that he has been improving since you came to stay with me on my yatch." Alcazar continued on. He noticed the young woman's now icy reception of him. But he chose to ignore it for now.  
  
"You make it sound like you gave Jason and I a choice." Elizabeth sneered at him. This man brought the Lizzie in her out.  
  
"Well, he has a choice. If he wants to leave he can give up and die." Alcazar pointed out as he stared out the porthole.  
  
Elizabeth's heart clenched at his truthful words. Jason did have that choice. "Why are you doing this?"  
  
Alcazar turned to look at her and gave her a bored expression. "I was really hoping we could avoid that question. You can't come up with anything less cliché, can you?"  
  
Her blue eyes widened. That wasn't the answer she was expecting. "You want to take down Sonny, am I right?"  
  
He nodded approvingly. "Better. Yes, I do."  
  
At least that got the obvious question out of the way. But why go to all that trouble?  
  
Jason's comments from before rang in her head. Brenda Barrett. She had to be connected, right? "Is it because of Brenda Barrett?"  
  
It was Alcazar's turn to looked shocked. He hadn't anticipated her knowing about Brenda. It made this all so much more interesting that she did though. Jason must have told her during his brief affairs with wakefulness. "Yes, it is."  
  
"So she isn't dead?" Elizabeth questioned.  
  
Alcazar opened his mouth to answer her question with a yes. But Jason beat him to it. "Who the hell are you?"  
  
At the sound of Jason's weak but forceful voice Alcazar's eyes glimmered with anticipation.  
  
But Elizabeth's closed in sadness.  
  
  
  
Okay, that was the end of Part One. Part Two will be the rest of a bunch of these conversations. I hope you liked all of this. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! 


	18. Tell Me PART TWO

Shadowing Death: Tell Me  
Part Two  
  
Thanks for all of the reviews! Especially the one who told me how much I screwed up! I am so sorry for the mess-up I made in the last chapter. Seems I got my Alckys mixed up and put that Alcazar's murder had already happened! I couldn't believe it. This just goes to show you that sometime I even mix my stories up. Not to mention the Alcazar twins. Needless to say, I'm embarrased as hell. I'm so sorry everyone! Why don't we just chalk it up to a little foreshadowing?  
  
Also, I've had major writer's block for Shadowing Death, so if updates are slow for a while, then I'm sorry. I'm also sorry for the wait that I put you all through!  
  
Here is the second part of the chapter. I hope you all like it!  
  
Monica's Hospital Room  
  
Monica stared at Carly as though she'd grown two heads. Why in hell would she need a favor? From Monica no less. They were never friends. In Monica's mind Carly had been the one to ruin both of her son's lives. "What?"  
  
The younger blonde moved to the chair next to Monica's bed, without being invited to. "Michael is taking Jason's um....being gone really hard. He suddenly has a lot of questions about Jason. I had kinda assumed that Jason had told him somethings, but I guess he never really did. They used to talk all the time, and appearantly, Jason's past was never one of those talks."  
  
Jason's mother closed her eyes. Jason had always been amazing with Michael. And just because the little boy no longer called him daddy didn't stop him from being a major part of Michael's life. Her grandson was just another person she had failed. Could she help him now? "Go on."  
  
Carly let out a relieved smile. She had been worried that Monica wouldn't care. "Michael wants to know all sorts of things. I was trying to answer them all for him, but some of it I didn't quite know how to explain. For some reason, he really wanted to know if Jason had parents. And he wouldn't just take the old excuse of "Oh, of course he had parents, the stork didn't bring him after all". He wanted to know more."  
  
Monica smiled faintly at Carly's wit. "He's like Jason."  
  
In a true mother-ish way Carly grinned. "More than I could have hoped for."  
  
The blanks filled themselves in for Monica. She knew what Carly wanted of her, why she had come. "You wanted to know if Michael could come visit me. And if I would take this opportunity to tell him about AJ."  
  
Carly looked down at her shoes. "Yes."  
  
Monica nodded. She wanted to meet her grandson. And if he wanted to meet his Uncle Jason's mother then that was okay by her. "I won't say anything about AJ. I promise."  
  
Carly smiled, pleased that Monica had done what she wanted. "He's outside with Johnny. I'll go get him and bring him back."  
  
Brenda's Safehouse  
  
Visits to Brenda had been scarce. She knew that he was having a hard time dealing with the death of Jason. And she knew that he had a son and wife now. Which is probably the only reason why she was willing to cooperate.  
  
Sonny nodded to the guard outside the door and headed in. He hoped that she would be in a good mood. Then again, what did it matter? She'd be heartbroken by the death of candyboy. Especially since he died because of Alcazar.  
  
"Sonny?"  
  
She looked beautiful as always. Even though she was stuck in a safehouse surrounded by guards. Her eyes had changed since he had been in love with her. Long gone were the eyes of a young woman who was in love. She was older, more mature. Maybe she had seen too much.  
  
"Hey Brenda." He greeted with a forced smile. She could see through it, just like she always had.  
  
Her smile is sad. And he knows she realizes that something happened. "What's wrong?"  
  
Sonny sank down on the bed and put his elbows against his knees. How do you tell someone that their former love and almost husband is dead? "Brenda, um, theres been, ah..."  
  
"Just say it Sonny." Brenda directed.  
  
Sonny sighed and let out a slow breath. "Jax was killed."  
  
Alcazar's Yatch  
  
Elizabeth watched as Jason mentally tried to place the man who was grinning in front of him. After a second he appeared to give up, willing to admit he had no idea who was in the room with them.  
  
"Hello, Mr. Morgan. So nice of you to finally come 'round." Alcazar said mockingly. Jason's eyes narrowed. She could tell that already he didn't like this man. His eyes flashed to her and she understood the silent message.  
  
She walked to him and sat down next to him. If Alcazar tried something, there was no way that Jason would be able to safe himself let alone her. But she knew he would still feel better if she was next to him where he could at least try to protect her.  
  
"I said, who are you?" Jason tried again. His mask was firmly in place, his face betraying no emotion.  
  
Alcazar laughed. She knew that he'd been waiting for this. To throw Jason off. "My name is Luis Alcazar. You and I talked on the phone."  
  
Jason nodded. "You called about Sonny."  
  
Elizabeth's mind clicked with Jason's statement. She had wondered how he had known to be a the church at that exact moment.  
  
Alcazar smirked. He could see the tense way Elizabeth sat. He knew that she hadn't told Morgan anything yet. "You see, Mr. Morgan, I need you here for one reason. And that would be to bring down Sonny Corinthos. I guess I really should start from the beginning, right? A few years ago I found a woman in the water. She was alive, amazingly. You know her." Alcazar paused before making the big reveal that he knew Jason and Elizabeth alreaday knew. "Brenda Barrett. She and I traveled the world together. She had no desire to go back to her hometown and correct the rumors of her death. She told me all about her life here. About how Sonny Corinthos and Jasper Jacks broke her hearts. More so your Sonny. Mr. Jacks has been taken care of. I have something much more painful in store for Mr. Corinthos. You see, in case Ms. Webber has neglected to mention it to you, all of the world thinks you are dead. Your funeral was a few days ago. I have it all on tape in case you would like to see it."  
  
Jason remained silent. He showed no indication that he cared either way about his supposed death.  
  
"Once you're well enough I'll trade you for Brenda. I know that Mr. Corinthos will do anything to get you back once he finds out you're alive." Alcazar informed Jason.  
  
Monica's Hospital Room  
  
Monica watched as the little redheaded boy walked into the room. He was holding his mother's hand and had his eyes focused on her. Her grandson looked like his entire world got smashed down around him. "Hello Michael."  
  
Michael nodded, saying nothing to her. Carly must have been right, Jason and Michael were a lot alike. They both weren't big talkers apparently.  
  
"Michael, this is Jason's mother. Remember you asked to meet her?" Carly coaxed the little boy. He looked up at her and nodded again. Carly gave him a half smile.  
  
Without waiting to ask Monica, Michael climbed up on the chair and sat next to her. "Why are you in the hospital?"  
  
She could see Carly about to open her mouth but Monica beat her to it. "I haven't felt too good recently, Michael."  
  
"Cause of Uncle Jason." He stated.  
  
Monica nodded, "I really miss him. I know you do too."  
  
Michael studied her for a minute. He seemed to be looking for something that she didn't know about. After a minute he started to talk to her again. "Jason never said he had a mommy."  
  
She closed her eyes briefly. Michael wasn't aware how much his simple statement cut at her heart. "Jason and I weren't very close."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
The million dollar question. "Because I didn't see him for who he was. I treated him like someone different then who he had become."  
  
Michael seemed to take in her words. He had a very Jasonly manner about him. There was something about the both of them that just accepted the facts as they were given, but placed no judgment or critism on the person telling them. "Did you want to be his mom?"  
  
"More than you, or Jason, will ever know."  
  
  
  
That's it. I'm sorry its not very good. Forgive me, alright? I'll try to do something better for the next chapter. I promise.  
  
Please review anyway though!


	19. Where

Shadowing Death: Where  
  
Hello everyone. Yes, I'm not dead! I realize it's been a little while (cough-forever-cough) since I updated. But I do in fact have a EXCELLENT reason. My computer crashed! And to make a long story short I lost the chapter that was almost done. So sorry people. I hope you aren't all too mad at me. But sadly, you'll all have to deal with slow updates for a while. I have finals all next week. But after is summer (freedom!) so I'll have more time. Also, since we had to re-install everything to my computer Word got re-done too. And you know what that means! SPELL CHECK! Oh yes people, this is a grand thing. No more errors for me!  
  
I realize this is a bit late, but I forgot to add it in. No, they haven't forgotten Elizabeth. All will be explained. Also, as always, thank you all for the reviews.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Elizabeth's Studio  
  
It had taken a lot of convincing on Emily's part to get a key to Elizabeth's studio. She'd had to feed a story about the lose of a loved one to the landlord. And while it was true and Emily did a very good rendition of the plight of her friend, the landlord was a hard-ass lady with no sympathy.  
  
What got her the key in the end was the Quartermaine name and a fifty.  
  
Emily knew that Elizabeth probably just wanted to be left alone. Everyone was taking the loss of Jason hard, and Elizabeth was just one of the long line of people falling apart. Emily had to run between her mother and grandmother since the funeral. Neither was doing well. In addition to them she had to deal with her own grief. Even though she had AJ's help on all fronts including her own, it was harder than she could have ever imagined.  
  
Her mother was locking herself away staring into space. From the looks of her she was memorizing everything about Jason. Sometimes Emily would tell her stories about Jason. They would either send her to tears or make her shed a small smile.  
  
Lila was the hardest. To she the strong, sweet and wise old woman with a tear trickling down her face at all times was hard on the whole family. Lila didn't say much on the subject of her fallen grandson. But her health had taken a turn for the worse.  
  
Her thoughts turned back to her new helper in the Quartermaine front. AJ had risen to the family's need so amazingly that even Ned had praised him. He did everything from sitting with Monica in silence to letting their father mull over the past. Edward had pushed the all away and focused solely on Lila, but that didn't stop her brother from making small considerations that surprised Edward. His help was what kept her sane. She tried her hardest to help the people around her what they needed.  
  
She'd thought that Elizabeth needed some time. That maybe she could deal with some of her grief in her own way and be better for it. But after days of no calls and no response when Emily banged on the door, she had decided enough was enough and it was time to see if Elizabeth was alright.  
  
Emily walked through the hallway that lead to Elizabeth's studio. Her eyes spotted the industrial door in a second. Jason's own way of giving Elizabeth safety. Her brother had been nothing but unconventional. But his methods to keep Elizabeth safe had worked thus far.  
  
Hesitantly, she rapped her knuckles on the door. "Elizabeth? It's Emily. Open the door?"  
  
There was no movement from the other side that she could hear. With a little more insistence and force, Emily knocked again. "Elizabeth. I know this is hard. It's hard for all of us. But you can't shut us all out. Look sweetie, either you open the door for me or I'm going to open it. I have a key."  
  
She made one last try to get Elizabeth to open the door of her own free will. She wanted for Elizabeth to see that having someone around to mourn with her wasn't the worst thing. That person could be Emily. And a chance was all she wanted. "Liz, I miss him too. I know you probably don't want to talk. If you let me in we don't have to talk. We can do anything. Even if what you want is to just sit there and miss him."  
  
Still there was nothing to indicate that Liz was even there. Sighing, Emily stuck her key in the lock and opened the door. She stuck her head in and it only took one look to know that Elizabeth wasn't in the room.  
  
Frowning, Emily looked around. Nothing was out of place. There was no sign that something bad had happened. But there was no Elizabeth.  
  
The canvas was untouched, her paints all neatly aligned. The afghan on the couch was still there and looking as beat up as ever. It was a scene from a museum, nothing was out of place or wrong.  
  
All Emily had was the overwhelming feeling that something was terribly wrong.  
  
  
  
Short I know. But I wanted to get an update out. Next chapter there will be some Emily/ Sonny/Carly. And maybe (MAYBE) if I'm in the mood I'll be able to add in some Jason/Elizabeth. Please, review.  
  
PLEASE  
  
(Also, as I mentioned above, I don't know when the next update for this will be. Just know that I'm trying very hard. Plus, to all the Restart readers out there. I am in fact aware that it hasn't been updated in a long while. I had most of the chapter done and it too got lost. If it makes any consolation, the next update will be extremely long.) 


	20. One More Problem

Shadowing Death: One More Problem

Hey everyone. Thanks for all of the reviews for the last chapter. I went back and looked at the last time I've updated everything, and needless to say, I know I'm behind. Sorry! I'll try to make up for it somehow. I actually have gotten a job so my afternoons are numbered. While during the summer I have the whole day to hang out and relax, over the school year my schedule is going to be nuts. If I get home from school at 2:30 and head off to work at 4:00 till 9:00 then you can obviously see how little time I'll have for fanfiction. So, in the effort to finish both this story and Together this summer, I'm going to be writing my ass off.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Corinthos Penthouse  
  
Emily raced out of the elevator and rushed to the door of Sonny's penthouse. She ignored Johnny's questions and opened the door herself.  
  
"Sonny!" she called out. She saw him standing by the window with Carly. The both rushed towards her. In another time Emily would have been surprised to see the look of concern on Carly's face. But at the moment, that was the least important thing in her world.  
  
Sonny set his drink on the desk and touched her shoulder. "Emily, what's wrong? Are you alright?"  
  
Taking a deep breath, Emily started. She hoped she could convey her concern. "I haven't heard from Elizabeth in a few days. So I managed to get a key from her landlord. But when I went in she wasn't there."  
  
Carly rolled her eyes and sat down on the couch. "That's it? We thought you were dying or something."  
  
"Be quiet Carly." Sonny directed at his annoyed wife. He turned his attention back to Emily, who was still trying to catch her breath from her running. "Are you sure she just didn't go off to get away for a few days?"  
  
Shaking her head, Emily dismissed the notion. "No. If she'd been locked in there for a few days it would have looked lived in. Nothing was out of place."  
  
Gently leading her to the couch, Sonny sat Emily down. Once his best friend's sister was sitting, he called for the guard outside. "Johnny!"  
  
Johnny poked his head in the door. "Yes, boss?"  
  
"I need you to get some men looking for Elizabeth Webber. Emily says she's been missing for a few days and when she went to see if everything was alright, Elizabeth was gone." Sonny reiterated to the guard. Johnny understood what Sonny was leaving out. While it was entirely possible that Elizabeth had taken off to be by herself for a few days and had just not mentioned it to anyone, there was a more real possibility.  
  
Elizabeth may have very well been taken.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Alcazar's Yatch  
  
Jason hadn't said a word since Alcazar left. It had been a long time, she knew that. But the exact amount of time escaped her.  
  
Her mind raced with all of the things that could be going through his. If there was ever a time when she wanted to be a mind reader, right then was it. But at the same time, Elizabeth was almost afraid of what would happen when Jason did speak again.  
  
She knew that he was most likely absorbing everything that had been thrown at him in the conversation with Alcazar. It was a lot to take in. She was still reeling, and she'd had plenty of time to dwell and process. The silence was still killing her.  
  
"Jason?" Elizabeth whispered quietly. She had to know if he blamed her in any way. She hoped to god that he didn't.  
  
He slowly turned his head over to her. "They think I'm dead?" he whispered. He could only imagine what was going through Sonny and Carly's minds. His grandmother, Emily, Michael. He worried about each of them.  
  
Elizabeth sadly nodded. "Everyone does. I did too until I got kidnapped and brought here." She told him. More hesitantly, she added, "There was a funeral."  
  
"Alcazar said that. Did you...did you go?" he asked her. His mind was having trouble wrapping itself around a thought so alien. He knew that his job may very well be the cause of his death, but he didn't think that he'd be alive when they thought it had finally killed him.  
  
The look on her face was all he needed to know that she had. But she confirmed it with words also. "I did. I, um, I spoke too."  
  
Incredulously, he asked, "You said a eulogy?"  
  
A harsh laugh escaped her lips. "Yes. I did. I wasn't the only one." Off of his look Elizabeth continued. "Sonny and Carly spoke. Emily did. Um, Edward and Monica each did shorter ones. And Michael."  
  
Jason's eyes raised up high onto his forehead. "Michael? Michael got up in front of a church and gave me a eulogy?" How could a little boy no older than seven get up and do that? A swell of love for the little boy he had once called son rose up in him. Michael was brave, he would have caught on if other people had gone up and done the same thing. "What did he say?"  
  
"Um, that he missed you. But he wasn't going to be sad because you'd have to watch him be sad and be unable to do anything about it. And he said that since you made sure that he wasn't ever sad, that it would hurt you to have to see it and not be able to help. He made sure that we knew not to be sad, but that he thought missing you was okay." Elizabeth paraphrased, taking out the main gist of Michael's speech. She didn't look up at Jason as she spoke. But when she did she saw the look of grief on his face and tried to come up with something to make him feel better. "Of course, that was the parts I could understand. He talks so fast."  
  
Snapping back to Elizabeth with her last comment, Jason let out a much- needed smile. "Yeah, he does."  
  
Both of them sat back in a much more comfortable silence. From the way Jason had acted, he didn't appear to be holding anything against her. Which put Elizabeth slightly more at ease.  
  
Her brief moment of peace was cut off though. She could feel the tension creep back into her as she imagined what exactly he was thinking with his words.  
  
"We have to figure out how to get out of here soon."  
  
  
  
Okay, cliffhanger. Kind of. Does that count as one? Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! **Please, review!**


	21. As Time Goes By

**Shadowing Death:** As Time Goes By

Hello everyone! Thanks for all of the reviews for last chapter. Just so everyone gets the facts here, this chapter is four days after the last one. I needed to jump ahead a bit. I mean, Jason can't very well do much if he's on life support, right? But don't worry, I'm not jumping the gun or anything. Trust me!  
  
**- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Sonny's Penthouse**  
  
Each person that Sonny or Jason had even been slightly close to had a guard. His men didn't quite understand his reasoning, but they knew that now was not the time to challenge him.  
  
But they were no closer to finding Luis Alcazar. Sonny was getting the distinct feeling that this man didn't want to be found until he made his move. His move being no doubt an attempt to take over the organization. Which Sonny would not allow. He'd worked to hard, Jason had worked too hard, to just let it go like that.  
  
He'd be ready for his man. To hell with the rules of the mob. He wasn't playing by the rules anyone.  
  
Any rule that stopped him from killing Alcazar was inconsequential, it didn't matter and wouldn't be obeyed. Sonny didn't care who he killed, who he pissed off or what immoral thing he did.  
  
Alcazar would die begging for mercy. His business would be broken down and sold or given. Either way, he'd die a worthless man. Sonny would make sure of it.  
  
For now, he had mob heads from South America and Puerto Rico waiting for his word. Each of them had sworn their allegiance to Sonny and were waiting for when their men would be brought to Port Charles to take care of Alcazar.  
  
To some of them, they were angered because of something that Alcazar had done to them. Some had a respect for Jason that lead them to help Sonny get revenge. And for some, it was the mere need to stay in his good graces.  
  
But whatever their reason, because of their promises, Sonny had their men at his call. With his organization of forty-five men and the addition of all of their men, he had over two hundred men at his command.  
  
No matter what Alcazar had up his sleeve, Sonny would beat him.  
  
**- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Alcazar's Yatch  
**  
Jason watched Elizabeth sleep. She deserved it, every time he woke up she was right there next to him. He'd only seen her sleep that one night next to him. She had to have been exhausted, both physically and mentally.  
  
There was no way he could even comprehend what she had gone through. What she had dealt with because of him. The old urge to run away to save her from the pain rose up in him. But Jason suppressed it. He knew that there was no way he could keep pushing her away.  
  
And she would most likely not even allow it. He had seen the look on her face when she described what had gone on since the shooting. Every moment between Sonny showing up at her door to when she saw him in the bed.  
  
His heart clenched every time she told him about the people he loved and what they were going through. He knew that when the day came when he was unable to go home it would hurt the people he loved. But he never imagined how much.  
  
Jason shook his head, he couldn't keep thinking about them. He needed to find away to get back to everyone. To go home. A way that didn't include being rescued by Sonny. Jason would not jeopardize Sonny's business and Brenda's safety.  
  
He let out a harsh breath. Taking deep breaths hurt, which he'd learned the hard way only days ago. The pain was always present and Jason was almost forgetting what it was like to go without pain for more than seconds.  
  
Those seconds being when Elizabeth smiled his way.  
  
Eyes snapping back to Elizabeth, Jason smiled. He had to get her out of the situation she hadn't even asked for. She was there to keep him alive. And he would do the same for her. He wasn't going to allow Alcazar to make her his Brenda substitute and take her away from him.  
  
There was only one guard outside his guard. Alcazar was a overconfident fool. He assumed that the pain and gunshot wound would convince him to stay still. That was far from the truth.  
  
The moment that Elizabeth had explained their situation, Jason had been planning a way out. According to Elizabeth she couldn't see the docks out of the window from where they were. But in order for Alcazar to be so informed on the happenings of Port Charles, it would make sense that they were near by.  
  
But what Elizabeth could see from the windows was the deck of the boat. She said there were always two men below their window. Not to mention three powerboats tethered to the side of the boat.  
  
Every day at six in the morning, the night men left and a new shift of men changed with them. If all of the guards of the yatch followed the same schedule then they had an opening. Chances were that they did. The men also changed at ten at night as the night guards returned.  
  
Alcazar was not a fool though, he would assume that Jason and Elizabeth would try and escape at night when they had the darkness to hide in. The morning guards were probably not as aware and ready for problems as the night ones.  
  
It would be easy to knock out the guard posted outside their room. What wouldn't be easy was getting out of bed.  
  
There was the one flaw of their escape. Jason took a deep breath, instantly regretting it. He wasn't strong enough to do what they needed to do. If he wasn't within a few days, he would send her by herself.  
  
He took another look down at her. He loved her. They had to get out of there. Jason clenched his jaw and made sure that no sound would escape it. Using his elbows be pushed himself up into a sitting position.  
  
It took a minute for the pain to pass, but he was that much father to home. He'd been off of life support for days. He pushed his blankets off and swung his legs to the side of the bed. The side opposite of Elizabeth, who would not approve of what he was doing.  
  
He pushed himself off of the bed and stood. For his credit, the room only circled him once before it stopped.  
  
Slowly making his way to the window, Jason got more and more confident that he wouldn't fall down. Once he reached the window, he peered out. Elizabeth had been right, there were only two guards watching the motorboats.  
  
They had a chance.  
  
  
  
Okay, I hoped you all liked the chapter. Not my best. And not that long either. But hopefully the next one will be longer.  
  
REVIEW! PLEASE!


	22. The Plan

**Shadowing Death:** The Plan

Hi guys! Thanks to all of the reviewers, you guys are amazing! This takes place a few days after the last one. It's kind of a random follow-up chapter.

**- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Alcazar's Yatch**

"Elizabeth." Jason shook her as he tried to gently wake her up. "Elizabeth, wake up. Its me, Jason."

Her eyes slowly opened and she looked around as she tried to gauge her surroundings. "Jase? Are you alright, do you need something?" She asked in a concerned voice. Jason had been improving greatly. He was out of the woods and was working on regaining his strength. Which is something that Jason wasn't being patient with. But considering out easily he got winded, he still had a ways to go. If he opened his stitches they would be in trouble. "Jason?"

"No, I'm fine. We need to talk." Jason assured her. Elizabeth had completely put his care first. He knew that he was in love with her, the feelings that had been on the forefront since he'd woken up each time with her right next to him. But he had yet to tell her of those feelings.

Elizabeth's eyes narrowed and she sat up. "About?" She grabbed his arm and made him sit on the bed next to her. "Sit and talk."

"Listen to me." Jason urgently said to get her attention. "We need to get out of here."

"I know that Jason. There's no way that we can just wait for Sonny, is there?" Elizabeth asked. If Sonny came and took out Alcazar then all their problems would be solved. But she knew that if they waited then they might condemn Brenda to living in the hell that they were currently in.

Jason shook his head. "No. We need to do this on our own. Once we get off the yatch we'll head to Sonny." He sighed, "I don't want Alcazar trying anything even if we aren't there. Sonny needs to know we're alive."

"Then we escape." Elizabeth confidently stated. Jason looked surprised at first. But the look slowly fell from his face.

She was amazing. There was nothing more to it. She just accepted things and she could handle them. Jason nodded, not trusting his voice.

"When?" she asked.

"Tomorrow morning - early."

Elizabeth took a deep breath. She tired to push down her worry for Jason's well being but found it impossible. She loved him. But she also knew that he wouldn't dare stay in the yatch for much longer. She could either help him or make it harder. "Alright. Tomorrow morning. How early?"

"Six in the morning." Jason informed her, smiling as she groaned at the prospect of such an early morning. "It's when the night guards go and the normal ones come."

"Alright, six in the morning. How about the guard outside the door?" Elizabeth whispered as she indicated to the door with her head

When it appeared that the man outside the door didn't mind their talking, Jason answered. "He isn't expecting trouble. If Alcazar only put one guard out there then that means that the only person they're really expecting to pull anything for quite some time is you." Grinning at her suddenly. "And I don't care how many fighting lessons I gave you...there's no way you'd take down that man without the help of a bat or something."

Opening her mouth in protest, Elizabeth pretended to look offended. "That's not true." She exclaimed. But she made sure to keep her voice low.

Sighing, "You'd be okay." He conceded. "Elizabeth, when we knock out that guy, we'll only have a minute or two before the next shift of guys come out. We need to be fast."

Nodding, "I understand." So, in those two-minutes we get down to those boats. Take one. And drive to Port Charles before they can get to us."

"We drive to the docks. I don't care what we do with the boat after that." Jason informed her. "We just need to get to Sonny without them getting us first."

She looked down, gathering her wits before her next question. "Jase, what if they do get us."

Closing his eyes, Jason willed himself to stay confident. "If we do, then we've lost our only shot."

"Oh, so no pressure or anything."

######################

I hope you all liked see their plan for escape. Which should happen in the next few chapters. I wrote out an outline for the rest of the story. And I've realized I won't get it done before summers over and school has returned. So Together will be the only story done by then.

Please, I can't wait to see what you all think. Should I continue to post? Do you all want more? Let me know!


	23. Escape

Shadowing Death: Escape

_Hi guys, thanks for all of the reviews you've sent my way. _

-------------------------------------Alcazar's Yatch

Jason kept closed his eyes tiredly, it was time. All they needed was for the nurse to leave. Elizabeth was awake on the other side of the room, but didn't open her eyes or let on. The nurse checked his vitals quickly and hurried out. She never stayed long, Jason could tell that she wasn't comfortable with the situation. He couldn't really blame her.

They could both here her telling the guard inside that they were both asleep. Of course, this was wrong, but it was what they needed her to think. They needed to get out of there, to go home.

People believed in Jason's death, and it wouldn't be too long before someone started poking around Elizabeth's disappearance.

But this wasn't as urgent for Elizabeth as it was to him. Sonny and Brenda were at risk. All his life he'd been the one to take care of others, and now would not be the exception. He wouldn't allow his best friend to walk into a trap and not at least try to get out of it first.

He had to do this.

"Jason?" Elizabeth's whisper sounded from the other side of the room. She sounded apprehensive, and more than a little nervous. She knew that this was now or never. They messed up and they were stuck in Alcazar's hands.

What they both didn't voice was what Alcazar could, and in all probability would, do to them if they failed.

"Another minute." He whispered back. He took a quick glance at the clock and saw that they did have the time. He tried to gather his strength best he could. All he could tell himself was that in less than an hour he'd be in Harborview Towers and with the only people who had ever really been his family – most importantly Elizabeth would be safe.

The second ticked by and he could count it with his heartbeat. The bed made no noise as he sat up and swung his legs over. Elizabeth took his cue and shot up. She tried her best to help him, but he could get up on his own.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." He whispered, keeping up their pretense of being asleep. He could see in her eyes that she didn't believe it.

But either way, she sent him a brave smile. "I know."

Jason tried to ignore the light feeling in his heart that her smile brought on. A hard task. But there were harder ones to focus on. He grabbed the chair that was next to the door before going to hide behind what would be an open door in seconds. With a small nod to Elizabeth he let her know what came next.

"Help! It's Jason, you have to get help. Something's wrong!" Elizabeth screamed, trying to inspire as much terror as possible in whatever poor guard that was about to come in.

She must have sounded even more desperate than she intended, because the door flew open. "What happened? The nurse said…"

He didn't get the chance to finish before Jason emerged behind him, chair at the ready. Jason brought the chair up and then slammed the wood back down onto the unsuspecting guards head.

Next to him, Elizabeth winced as the chair leg splintered under the force of the blow. Jason felt no pity for the guard though, not when it meant their survival. Though his side ached even more fiercely from having stretched so much, Jason ignored it. He had taken down the guard - that was what mattered.

Without stopping to see if the guard was even alive, Jason grabbed Elizabeth's hand. "We need to go, two minutes." He reminded.

She nodded and ran with him. They had to find their way out to the deck, but neither of them had been conscious when they were brought aboard the ship. The two moved quickly and quietly down the hallways, searching for the exit. Alcazar had fewer men on the ship than Jason had expected, a help to their cause.

He didn't take time to absorb the decorations around him. He didn't care for anything he saw, only the doors. They were looking for one that lead outside, preferably marked as an exit.

"Jason! There!" Elizabeth whispered, sounding elated. Jason turned to where he hand pointed, and saw the object of her relief. An exit.

They changed directions to head for the hallway with the door. Jason could tell that they were on the right side of the ship, the boats would probably be in sight when they opened the door. Sure enough, they were.

Elizabeth started to run towards them, but Jason held her back the extra second to check and see if there was anyone around. They were out in the open outside, and they needed to be careful. Seeing no one, Jason pushed her forward towards the boats.

Neither of them had a watch handy to check the time, but they both knew that they only had a few seconds left before the new guards would be there.

They had almost used up their precious two moments.

"Get on!" Jason ordered, waiting until Elizabeth had safely jumped over the side of the railing and was standing on the boat. He hurried on behind her, ignoring the pain in his side, with all the moving he was doing, he could feel a steady burning sensation filling up the wound and quickly spreading to the rest of his chest. He only had so long before he wouldn't be able to go on…he just prayed he'd get Elizabeth to safety before he collapsed.

The keys were inside the boat, making things all the easier for the escaping duo. Had they not been, Jason would have had to try to hotwire the boat into running – an act that would have taken far too long, if he'd been able to manage it at all.

"Go, Jason!" Elizabeth hissed at his side. She noticed his hands shaking as he turned the keys to the boat, the motor soon roaring to life.

The noise alerted the incoming guards to them. As Jason steered the boat away from its dock, the guards had realized what had happened. They ran forward, shouting for reinforcements. "They're getting away! Damn it, get over here!" One yelled.

Elizabeth paid them no mind…until of course they started shooting.

"Get down!" Jason yelled.

"What about you?" Elizabeth said, sounding outraged. "You're the one with a hole in you already!"

As gently as he could with the hand free from steering, Jason shoved her to the floor of the moving boat. He didn't say anything at all to her, instead he focused his energy to looking ahead of them and speeding away as fast as the boat could possibly go.

"We're almost there…" Elizabeth whispered as she chanced a look over the edge.

The gunshots got farther away, and Jason knew they would stop soon. They were already too far out of range. The guards would soon realize the same, then the realization that they were shooting in an area where shots could be heard and reported would follow at it's heels.

"They're giving up! Jason, they're giving up!" Elizabeth cried, standing. Since the shots had indeed stopped, Jason didn't shove her back down.

Jason opened his mouth to reply, but a new sound came to his ears - another motorboat engine. He whipped his head around and saw the other boat that had been beside there's tailing them in the distance.

"No…" Elizabeth said. "Go, Jason. We're closer to the docks than they are to us. We can make it in time!"

"I'm trying."

The Port Charles docks loomed ahead of them, and Jason knew he could reach the docks before the men trailing them caught up. Once they were on those docks though, he knew he wouldn't be able to out run them, there was no chance.

Well, I certainly can't believe my eyes. This whole chapter came out about as I was talking to my beta, Sam, about taking down all un-completed stories from the site. A very real possibility still, one I very much do not like. General Hospital just isn't what it used to be, and it's become impossible to write for a show I no longer even like (let alone recognize). If I do end up deciding to take down the uncompleted stories, a note will be posted to let you all know of this, I don't want to, I hate myself for being so unable to finish what I started, but I don't want to leave them up for more people to start reading, only to realize it's not going to be updated. I have a lot of thinking to do….

Again, thank you to Sam for continuing to nag me even though it's been a year. And – most importantly – thank you to any reader or reviewer who have stood by this story.


	24. For You I Will Run

**Shadowing Death: **For You I Will Run

* * *

_Thank you to all of the loyal readers (and those lovely reviewers too) who have stuck with these stories even when the likelihood of an update was slim. You're an amazing group!_

------------------------------The Docks

Jason maneuvered their motorboat to the edge of the docks. He didn't waste time doing a perfect parking job, they were close enough that they could safely get off the boat and past that he didn't really care.

Elizabeth, without a word, jumped onto the docks. "Come on, I'll help." She said when she'd landed. Jason wasn't so much in the mood for jumping, not when it would jar his already throbbing wound. He accepted her help as quickly as he could with a small smile.

"Do you think you can run?" Elizabeth asked, almost breathless with adrenaline.

Jason raked a hand down his face as he turned to see Alcazar's henchmen gaining on them with every passing second. "Elizabeth, I need you to listen to me, all right, and do this for me."

"Jason…" Elizabeth started, seeing something she didn't like in his eyes.

Cutting her off, Jason put his hands on her shoulders and leaned down. "I'm going to get back on the boat, I'll divert them. You have to run to Sonny and tell him everything."

"Absolutely not." She said firmly.

"Elizabeth."

Elizabeth shrugged out of his grasp. "Absolutely not." She repeated, "You're not going to get caught by them again."

"I can't run, Elizabeth." Jason hissed, turning to look back at the guards again. "Not with them behind me. I won't risk you."

"So you think I'm going to risk you?" Elizabeth exploded. "I didn't spend all that time praying you'd live just to see you get hurt all over again! I didn't!" She couldn't even believe that he was entertaining these thoughts. "You're hurt. You go back and Alcazar is going to realize that you're strong enough to cause problems now, he'll do something to keep you from staying a threat."

"Which is why you're going to go to Sonny and get help." Jason finished for her, knowing full and well that it wasn't where she'd been going.

Elizabeth shook her head and looked over his shoulder. Whatever lead they'd had before was going to be forfeited if they kept this arguing up. "Could you get to Sonny's yourself if I distracted them?"

Jason considered that a moment before tilting his head. "Probably." He responded slowly. "Though that doesn't matter. What you're thinking isn't a workable option."

"It's a very workable option, Jason." Elizabeth said earnestly.

Jason turned to the water, "We're wasting time!"

"So start running." Elizabeth instructed. Seeing the look on Jason's face, she plunged in. "No, Jason, listen. You get to Sonny. I'll stay here long enough to make sure they see me, then I'll go. I know these docks better than they do! I can hide until I lose them then I'll get to Sonny's too."

"Elizabeth, you're not…"

"Yes, I am, Jason." Elizabeth said, softly. She reached a hand out and put it to Jason's lips when he kept talking. "I almost lost you. I thought I had. You have no idea how badly that hurt, I wanted to die with you." She whispered, her voice shaking. "So we've got two choices here, and about two seconds to make that choice. Either we both just stand here and wait for these guys to come and catch us. Or you can go right now to Sonny and I'll distract them when they come."

Jason bowed his head, knowing he could put this off any longer. She wouldn't leave him, he knew that. If they wanted any chance to get away, he would have to do as she wanted. "You don't…"

"I do. Now run." She said, cutting him off again. Jason wasted only a second to look at her, his eyes locking into hers. Then, without a word, he raced up the stairs and vanished from Elizabeth's sight.

"As fast as you can, Jason." Elizabeth whispered, watching as the former speck of a boat got bigger and bigger as it got closer to the docks. She would wait only a moment longer before she made sure to visibly run in the opposite direction from where Jason would go.

She was glad that he hadn't said anything before he ran, it only made things easier to deal with. If he'd said anything like "Good luck." It would have seemed so un-Jason she wouldn't have known how to take it.

---------------------------------

Jason ran as fast as he could with his wound burning and his body protesting. He could hardly focus on the docks ahead of him. He kept running though, to do anything less would be letting down Elizabeth, and he wouldn't do that.

He had to trust her. Elizabeth could handle herself - even if he didn't want to risk her long enough to allow her to prove it.

It hurt more than the wound, to know that there was nothing in that moment that he could do to help her.

He couldn't, but Sonny could.

And that thought was what kept him running, even though dots swam in his vision and his side ached. Sonny could help Elizabeth, and Sonny could help him. He wanted to go home.

Jason stumbled, nearly tripping to the ground. That would have been the end of him, he wouldn't have been able to get back up, if he'd fallen. But he didn't, he kept himself up and kept running, falling onto autopilot. He tried not to think, because the effort was too much.

It seemed like forever, but Harborview Towers loomed in the distance. How many times had he walked to and from the docks and the penthouse, without getting tired or even thinking about it? Now it seemed like it was a million miles away, and that he'd never reach it. The very idea seemed foreign to him.

He kept running still, and finally he made it. Jason ran into the parking garage and right to the elevator. The elevator opened when he pressed the button, and once he was inside, it was safe. For him, at least, for Elizabeth the running wasn't over yet. She would make it there, though, she had to.

Jason resisted the urge to slide down the wall of the elevator, when the doors slid closed. It was the same as when he'd nearly fallen running - if he fell down then he wouldn't be able to get back up.

All he had to do was get to Sonny's door. His friend would be able to piece it together then.

-----------------------------Sonny's Penthouse

"There's been no word on Elizabeth?" Sonny asked, stopping to take a sip from the glass in his hand.

Johnny shook his head. "Nothing."

"She didn't just leave town then." Sonny said, setting the glass down and moving to the couch. He sat down heavily, feeling as though the world rested on his shoulders.

"No, I don't think she did." Johnny agreed. "She have contacted someone by now."

Elizabeth wouldn't have just left them to worry, not so soon after Jason's death. She wouldn't have been able to do that to Emily, at the very least. They'd checked with her every day, but Emily said that she hadn't heard anything either.

"This has to be connected with Jason." Sonny said, head falling into his hands.

"It might be." Johnny said, standing in front of the couches. He eyed his boss carefully, seeing the lines on Sonny's face that seemed to have appeared overnight.

Sonny's head turned when the slightest of knocks sounded on the door. He wasn't even sure that it had been a knock. He glanced to Johnny, who was staring at the door too, so it hadn't been his imagination. Within a second, there was another knock, this time more forceful.

Johnny made a move to go answer the door, but Sonny held him back.

"Boss…"

Sonny shook his head, and moved to the door. He heard Johnny make an impatient noise behind him, as though he wanted to question his boss, though he never would.

Ignoring Johnny, Sonny opened the door. He felt the air rush out of his lungs.

There, leaning in the doorway half-collapsed already, was Jason. Jason, who was _supposed_ to be dead, Jason, who _did_ look like death warmed up.

Silently, Jason raised his head to look at Sonny. He did it slowly, as if his head weighted more than the rest of his body. His eyes were unfocused, but he still zeroed in on Sonny's stunned face. He opened his mouth, to say something, but no words came out. Instead, he just mouthed "Sonny."

Before Sonny could react, Jason slumped forward, a dead weight in his arms.

* * *

_Cliffhanger alert! See, now you have something to look forward too. I hope no one is too angry on that. _

_**Please, as usual, review! I'd love to know what everyone thinks of the chapter! **_


	25. Catch Me If You Can

**Shadowing Death:** Catch Me If You Can

* * *

_Thank you to all of those lovely reviewers, who make me giggle as though I wasn't 17, but 7. You guys rock._

_----------------------------------The Penthouse_

_There, leaning in the doorway half-collapsed already, was Jason. Jason, who was supposed to be dead, Jason, who did look like death warmed up._

_Silently, Jason raised his head to look at Sonny. He did it slowly, as if his head weighted more than the rest of his body. His eyes were unfocused, but he still zeroed in on Sonny's stunned face. He opened his mouth, to say something, but no words came out. Instead, he just mouthed "Sonny."_

_Before Sonny could react, Jason slumped forward, a dead weight in his arms._

The second that Jason fell into Sonny's arms, he jolted back into reality. He'd been in shock, staring at Jason as though he were an incredibly life-like mirage.

Behind them, he heard Johnny rushing forward also. "Jason?" Sonny half-whispered, unsure if Jason had passed out or had simply lost the strength to stand. He didn't receive a response.

Sonny pulled Jason up a little further against him, trying to see his face for a confirmation. Seeing Jason, sitting there with him in his lap, was almost making him shake. He had thought he'd never see Jason again, _never_, and now, here he was.

Though unconscious, Jason was still here. Still alive.

"Let's get him to the couch." Johnny quietly suggested after a second, his hands already going to Jason to help Sonny pick him up.

Together they moved Jason as quickly and gently as they could. They weren't sure if he was injured or not, but he was clearly not well.

Once Jason was settled onto the couch Sonny crouched down next to it. Jason's eyes were closed, and his breath was coming in short pants as though he'd run the whole way to the penthouse.

Johnny went up along the back of the couch, and reached a hand out to gently rest on Jason's forehead. "He's got a slight fever, I think." His voice tight with something that Sonny didn't care to spend time and figure out.

Sonny didn't look up to Johnny as pushed his guard's hand away and replaced it with his own. Johnny was right, it wasn't severe but there was a definite heat radiating off of Jason's forehead.

"Jason?" Sonny said, trying to sound forceful but his voice ended up coming out a half-hopeful plea. His hand moved down to cup Jason's cheek, "Jase, can you hear me?"

"Should I call a doctor?" Johnny asked from above Sonny.

_----------------------------The Docks_

Elizabeth ran as though she had the devil chasing her. She'd never run so fast in her life. Everyone once and a while, when she hadn't heard Alcazar's men huffing to keep up or tripping on something for some time, she'd slow or pretend to trip herself. Once the guards caught up to her, she ran faster, leading them further and further from any route that Jason would have taken.

She wanted to give him as much time as possible to run to Sonny's penthouse. He was still injured badly, and running wasn't what any doctor would have suggested. It was, under normal circumstances, a horrible idea.

Unfortunately, there was nothing else they could do. All that Elizabeth could hope for was that he would make it to Sonny. If he could do that, then they were in the clear.

Elizabeth spared a glance behind her, her chest heaving with the pants of air that were all that she could get. She was getting tired, and soon she would have to end the game. She couldn't let them stay on her trail on her way to the penthouse, or else Alcazar would know that they had made it to Sonny.

She looked around, getting a feel for where she was. With a grin, Elizabeth spotted a side alleyway and headed down it, making sure that they only caught the briefest glimpse of her.

Once inside the alley, she only had seconds to figure out her next move. The alleyway had two different directions that it went off into, one leading further away from where they'd started, and one that would loop back onto a route closer to where she was headed.

What she needed to do was get them to think that she was going down the first one, but really she would hide and wait for them to go down the second.

An easy trick, but one she prayed would work.

Quickly, as she'd heard the arguing men once again – one would think they'd be trained in the ways of stealth – and she knew she only had a second, Elizabeth darted down the one that would lead her further away. With a triumphant grin, she saw the dumpster in the alleyway off to the side. Without even a grimace, she slipped inside before the two saw her.

"She went down this way, come on!"

"Are you sure?"

"Real damn sure, now move!"

"We can't lose her!"

Elizabeth watched through the tiny space between the lid and the dumpster. Luck was on her side, as the trash was in bags and not just sitting free. Otherwise she'd shudder to think what she'd be sitting on.

The two rather incompetent men ran down the alleyway, in the exact opposite direction of where she'd be heading. They had stopped talking for a moment, and it was apparent that they were getting as tired as she was.

Hopefully they would continue to assume that she was running ahead of them for a while. By the time they realized that she'd gotten away, they would be too far away to try and trace their steps correctly.

With the way that they had ran behind her, it was clear that they knew nothing of the Port Charles docks. There were a few times when a shortcut could have landed them closer to her, or even ahead of her. Never once did they try that though, so it was clear that they were unaware of the tricks of the docks.

Elizabeth waited what felt like eternity before slipping the lid off the dumpster as quietly as possible and rushing down the other alley.

_---------------------------------Alcazar's Yatch_

"What do you mean 'they escaped'?" Alcazar yelled, enraged.

The man before him almost cowered. His boss was a powerful man with no conscious. This failure to keep the two prisoners in their room and on the yatch might well cost him is life. "I'm very sorry, sir…"

"Sorry? All this planning and work is ruined and you're sorry?" Alcazar said, getting up from his chair and striding toward the man.

"Y-yes, sir."

Alcazar moved quickly, getting right into the man's face. "If you don't get them back – soon – then you'll pay for it with your life."

* * *

_Not the best, I know, but I figured it was all right to post. I hope you all liked the chapter all the same, and remember:_ **reviewing is a sure way to get me moving**! 


	26. Home Base

**Shadowing Death:** Home Base

* * *

_Thank you again to the lovely reviewers, and even those lurkers too! _

_------------------------------Sonny's Penthouse_

"Jason…" Sonny sighed as he pulled his best friend's shirt up to expose the white bandage covering Jason's torso. "Damn."

"What is it?" Johnny asked, coming back from the desk. He'd called their doctor, giving him only the barest of information. Then again, he only had the basics himself. Jason was alive, he'd shown up at Sonny's door and passed out. How he'd gotten there, what had happened to him and just where the hell he'd been all this time were still questions. Until Jason woke up, there wouldn't be any answers.

Sonny winced as he inspected the bandage. "I think it's from…that night." He said, quietly.

"Don't take it off." Johnny cautioned, not acknowledging the vague reference. "Best wait for the doctor."

Nodding, Sonny agreed. He certainly wasn't any form of doctor. He didn't want to hurt Jason worse than he already had.

The knock at the door startled them both.

"Did he fly here or something?" Sonny asked, staring at the door.

"I just called him, I swear." Johnny said. "It can't be him."

Sonny glanced back down to Jason, who's breathing was still ragged. He couldn't let Jason be seen, not yet. If word got to whoever was behind this that Jason had made it to him, they would have bigger problems than Jason's breathing patterns. "Don't let whoever it is inside." He ordered.

"I won't." Johnny said. He moved the door and angled his body so that the person behind it couldn't see in. He'd push himself out and shut the door safely. He knew his boss's thought process, and he agreed. Jason being seen now would be a major crisis. He wasn't about to let that happen. That night at the church, he'd let Jason and Sonny down. They had all paid the price. Jason was more than his boss, he was a friend and Johnny was loyal to his friends. He wouldn't let anyone hurt Jason, at least not until Jason could fight back himself. Being passed out on a couch didn't exactly fit that description.

Johnny opened the door, "Mr. Corinthos isn't avai-" he started.

"Johnny?" Elizabeth asked, breathless.

The bodyguard stared at her. "Ms. Webber?"

"We're past that, I think." She said, pushing him back a bit. "I need to speak to Sonny, right now."

Johnny moved aside, seeing something in her eyes that brooked no argument. Elizabeth went past him into the penthouse, her eyes scanning. Jason had to have made it.

She zeroed in on him. "Oh, god, is he okay?" She asked Sonny, who wasn't looking at her.

Sonny had heard the exchange at the door, not really as surprised by the turn of events as Johnny had been. Once Emily had said that Elizabeth seemed to have taken off, he'd known it had something to do with Jason. Most of Elizabeth's actions since the time that Jason had returned had some connection to their half relationship.

Elizabeth dropped down on her knees next to where Sonny was sitting. "Is he alright?" she repeated, reaching out to lay a hand on the unconscious enforcer's forehead.

"I don't know." Sonny said, truthfully. "What the hell is going on, Elizabeth?"

She ignored him in favor of Jason. "Jason? Can you hear me?" She called softly.

Jason didn't do anything, though his breathing was slowing towards something more manageable and even. Elizabeth ran her hand down his face, frowning at his stillness. He had been right when he'd told her that he wouldn't be able to run that far.

"Elizabeth?" Sonny prompted, getting impatient.

"Alcazar." She said, shortly.

Sonny stared at her. Alcazar?

"That bastard." Johnny swore behind them, displaying a rare burst of anger.

_-----------------------------The Docks_

"Did you find them?" The breathless man asked, leaning over to rest his hands on his knees.

"No."

"He's going to kill us."

"Yeah."

_-----------------------------Sonny's Penthouse_

"Start from the beginning, Elizabeth." Sonny ordered, still next to Jason. He'd shifted down to let her sit next to Jason also. Johnny hovered above them, pacing. "Sit down, John."

Johnny grabbed a chair from the dining room table and moved it to be at the end of the couch. He straddled it, but he was still itching to get up and do something. He watched Elizabeth as she tried to gather her thoughts.

Elizabeth sighed, "I don't really know how." She said finally. "I was painting in my studio, or trying to at least, and the door just flew open. These men came in and held a cloth to my nose and I just…passed out."

Sonny exchanged a look with Johnny at the mention of the cloth. They were both more than aware of what that was, and so was Elizabeth. It was commonplace in kidnapping. "And." Sonny prompted.

"I woke up on a boat. Long story short, Jason was my roommate. Alcazar made it seem like he'd been killed." Elizabeth said, wishing she had more to tell them.

"What's under here?" Sonny asked, gently tapping the bandage.

Elizabeth winced, "Gunshot wound. He was shot."

Sonny swore under his breath. It was hardly a shock though, barely one. He had to be sure though, with Jason's health in the situation like it was. "How bad?"

"Alcazar only took me because Jason was dying." She said quietly, reaching down to smooth Jason's hair away from his face. "He's gotten better though."

Johnny looked at Jason skeptically. Elizabeth laughed, in spite it the situation. "He ran here. Alcazar's men were chasing us."

"What?" Sonny nearly shouted.

From the couch, Jason stirred at Sonny's yell. He groaned and shifted in his spot. "Hmm, 'Lizabeth?" he whispered.

Elizabeth smiled, "Hey," she reached for his forehead again, "I told you that we would both make it."

Jason cracked his eyes open. "I won't doubt you again." He said, sounding vaguely amused.

"Jase," Sonny started.

Someone knocked on the door again. "Mr. Corinthos?"

"That's the doctor." Johnny said, relief evident. He quickly crossed the room to let the man in.

* * *

_I hope you all liked the chapter, again, sorry for the wait! _


	27. As if it Were All a Nightmare

**Shadowing Death **

As if it Were All a Nightmare

* * *

_Once again, thank you a hundred times over for the reviews. Summer is coming, all, so maybe we'll get some updates flowing. Together is really getting close to being done, and I'd love to get something off my WIP list! Look out for things, but please remember that I make no promises. Let's just cross our fingers and see how things play out, yeah?_

_--------------------------The Penthouse_

"Congratulations, young man, you very nearly ripped all of the stitches right out of this wound. The fact that they aren't leaves me, frankly, baffled."

The doctor's chastisement had little effect on Jason, but Elizabeth had the good grace to blush in guilt. She stood by their actions but that didn't mean she wasn't aware how it looked to the sweet but clearly weathered doctor.

"But none of the stitches came out, right?" Sonny chimed in. Johnny smirked behind him, as though this were a familiar and strangely beloved scene for him. It probably was.

The doctor seemed to already know Jason and their unique situation because he hadn't really asked a thing. Elizabeth didn't have the same luxury and the last couple of weeks were beginning to wear on her mind.

Jason seemed to sense this and reached out to hold her hand. She squeezed it, smiling gratefully.

Dr. Jacobs let out a grim noise, "Do you see any blood, Mr. Corinthos?" He asked; not cross, but more absentmindedly. Sonny had been questioning him very much like a mother hen but the doctor didn't seem to mind one bit. Just more reinforcement for her earlier assessment – this man knew all about Jason's tendency for injury and Sonny's surprisingly paternal reactions to it.

Sonny didn't say anything to that, so the doctor took pity on him. "No, he didn't pull any stitches, though it looks to have been a very near thing." He sighed as he put the finishing touches on the new bandage. "I'm going to prescribe an antibiotic and a painkiller," He held up a hand to stop whatever Jason had opened his mouth to say "Antibiotic is to be taken as the bottle directs and the painkiller can be administered at your say, Mr. Morgan."

Elizabeth smiled as Jason shut his mouth, clearly about to tell the doctor his feelings on painkillers and what they did to someone's lucidity in as few words as possible. He settled for nodding instead.

"And?" Sonny prompted when the doctor went silent.

"And I'm putting you on strict bed rest." Jacobs continued. "Just because you didn't tear doesn't mean that you didn't do damage to what healing has occurred. If you want that wound to heal at all you're going to stay laying down as much as possible for the next two weeks."

"Done." Sonny said, giving Jason a bit of a warning glare.

"I believe you know how to keep a fever down, Mr. Corinthos?" Dr. Jacobs asked. Elizabeth shot a look up to Sonny and Johnny. They both nodded their heads but didn't elaborate further – oh yeah, Jason kept them on their toes.

The doctor stood up, "Call me immediately if anything changes or the fever goes up – it could be a sign of infection. I'm not about to take any risks, especially with the background that Miss Webber filled in." He turned to Elizabeth, "Now, as for you, would you like to adjourn to a bedroom for your examination?"

Elizabeth rushed to protest. She was not the injured one here, not one bit. "Oh, no I'm…"

"Going into the guest room." Sonny finished for her, gesturing to the side room behind the kitchen.

"I'm fine." She said, trying to sound as firm as humanly possible.

"Elizabeth," Sonny started.

"Please."

She looked down to Jason, who was laying flat on his back looking much more worn out than he had a minute ago. He stared at her tiredly, as though he didn't have much fight left in him. When she didn't say anything, he repeated himself, "Please."

It was her turn to sigh. She gave the doctor a strained nod, "All right."

"Follow me, Miss. I think I know the way well enough by now." The doctor said good-naturedly. For some reason, that put her at ease.

Jason watched her walk from the room, feeling more relieved than he let on. He closed his eyes, letting himself relax. He was still fighting to really wake up, he felt as though he was operating on a five minute delay.

"How do you feel?" Sonny asked, sitting on the coffee table across from him. Jason opened his eyes back up to stare at Sonny. He looked almost as resignedly tired as Jason felt.

"Better." He said, before considering the question a second longer. "Sleepy."

Sonny gave him a wan smile, "Yeah, you look it."

Johnny walked over from the corner, "Francis just called. Mrs. Corinthos is on her way home."

"I'm not keeping this a secret from her." Sonny said instantly. "I can't."

Johnny looked amused, "I didn't think you would, sir. I was just warning you. Maybe you want to meet her in the hall?"

_----------------------Guest Room_

Elizabeth watched the doctor put away the blood pressure cuff. He'd been nice enough, keeping up an idle chat with her that he hadn't with Jason. That was understandable, however, considering how little Jason thought of small talk. "So?"

"With the exception of mild exhaustion and what appear to be incredibly tense muscles, I deem you completely fit, Miss Webber."

"That's what I said." Elizabeth groused a little. "I'm fine."

"You can hardly blame them for being concerned. You and Mr. Morgan have been through what, from my limited knowledge, seems to be a strenuous ordeal." He said, sounding very much like a male version of her grandmother.

"I know," She agreed. "But Jason's much more important right now."

She stood up but was stopped by the doctor's hand. "Yes, Jason's health is in a more precarious position right now, but that does not make him more important than you, young lady."

Elizabeth let her head hang for a second. "I know." She repeated. "It's just…"

"You have spent a great deal of time worrying over him and when you love someone it does often seem that their life is more important than your own?" He finished gently.

Elizabeth opened her mouth. The man had been there for all of an hour, how could he ever come up with all of that? The man caught her shocked expression and only laughed in response.

_-----------------------Outside the Penthouse_

Sonny resisted the urge to pace. Carly would be coming out of the elevator any minute and he still wasn't sure what to say. He didn't want her to go through the same thing he had, staring at Jason at shock and feeling as though the whole world had flipped upside down. They'd both been through that enough at this point.

That brought him to the conclusion that he should tell her what was going on before she saw. This, however, was an easier resolution to make than to carry out. How could he even begin to put this all into words?

He didn't have time to figure that out. The elevator made its little beep of arrival noise and the doors started to slide open. Carly and Francis stood on the other side.

"Sonny?" Carly asked as she stepped into the hall.

"Hey, baby." He greeted quietly. He gave her a kiss and rested his forehead against hers for a second.

Carly wrapped her arms around him and stood there a second, drinking in the contact. She had just gotten back from bringing Michael to Bobbie's and she felt drained from the simple trip. Things were like that a lot lately.

Sonny sighed and pulled back. "Carly, I've a," He cleared his throat. "I've got something to tell you."

"What is it?" Carly prompted after a second of silence. Her husband was clearly tense. And then, he said something that she thought she'd never hear again.

"Its Jason."

* * *

_No, this is not a cliffhanger. Next chapter will be a whole new day, I promise. I do have a tendency to drag things on though, don't I?_

_I hope you liked the chapter! Please, good or bad, let me know what you thought of it. _


	28. Regroup

**Shadowing Death: **Regroup

--

_Thanks to the reviewers...you guys rock! _

* * *

_--Corinthos Apartment_

"Hey, nice of you to join us again, Sleeping Beauty."

Jason opened his eyes blearily, then, he groaned. "Johnny." Jason watched as his friend grinned at him like a fool. He himself, however, didn't feel quite as good. Quickly, Jason took stock of his various aches and pains. His wound still throbbed and his head ached, but he certainly felt better now than he had since this whole thing started.

The guard smiled, "Good morning." He said, eyeing Jason carefully. "Feel better?"

Jason slowly pulled himself up, giving Johnny an impatient grunt when the other man seemed to want to help. He'd really had enough of being an invaild. "Kind of." He answered shortly. Squinting his eyes against the morning light streaming out of the upstairs guest bedroom, he looked around. "When did I get up here?"

"Francis and I moved you. Better security." Johnny explained, relaxing his body ever so slightly as Jason leaned back against the pillows. "You were out cold."

"Where is everyone?" Jason asked, straining his ears to hear for movement downstairs. It was clear that no one else was around.

Johnny smiled. "It's not everyday someone comes back to life, you know. We've got a lot of preparations to take care of." He explained. Then, he brought his hand forward to count. "Sonny's got meetings today, coffee and otherwise. We don't want Alcazar or his people to think that anything's up. Luckily, you being here has got him at roughly the same level of distraction that he was at before, so I think we'll pull that off. Francis and Mrs. Corinthos are out shopping. They're going to make it seem like a little retail-therapy and we've already set up that she'll meet with your sister."

"Carly is going to tell Emily?" Jason asked, his mind having a hard time catching up with what Johnny was explaining.

"Emily will walk up to ask about Michael, Carly will offer to let her go see him at Bobbie's and then yes, in the car she'll be told you're back." Johnny continued. "We can't be sure how much of the town Alcazar has his hands into. Best someone get told on our turf, you know?"

Jason nodded distractedly, "Emily knows?"

"Emily calls in every day to ask if we've heard anything about Elizabeth, and we're damn sure that we don't have any phone taps. We told her that something's happened and she's got to meet with Carly." Johnny explained. He watched Jason closely as he continued. "Elizabeth was pretty adamant that we find a way to get word to the Quartermaines."

"Yeah." Jason agreed. "I don't want them to still think..."

Johnny nodded, relieved they'd done the right thing. "Anyway, Carly wasn't sure if she was the right person for the job. So Elizabeth is in the car to talk to Emily. After that, it's up to your sister to work out things with the Quartermaines."

Jason winced. That wasn't fair to Emily at all.

"She's stronger than you think." Johnny said quietly. "She's been kind of a rock over there already, Elizabeth said. I think she can handle this. Besides, she's giving out good news."

That made sense, but it didn't mean that he had to like it. A thought suddenly entered Jason's mind. "Carly?"

"You passed out last night before she got here." Johnny said, looking like he thought this was the best part. "Remember? I said Sonny should meet her in the hall?"

Jason tried to clear his mostly-hazy memories of the night before. Vaguely, yeah, maybe Johnny _had_ said Carly was on her way home. Still, "I don't believe I slept through that."

"You needed it." Johnny said firmly. "We made sure she got that before Sonny let her see you. Actually, she took it a lot quieter than we thought she would. She walked in here, sat by you and just watched you for, an hour at least. Finally, Sonny brought her upstairs to sleep."

"Are you sure it's safe for Elizabeth to be seen?" Jason asked, concerned. If it wasn't safe for him to be out, then he didn't like that she was going around to shop. Granted, she'd be in the car the whole time it seemed, but Jason still didn't want to risk her safety like that.

Johnny nodded, serious then. "We're sure. Marco will stay in the car with her the whole time." He paused then, as if unsure whether he should continue. "Besides, Francis will be there."

There was obviously something there that Jason was supposed to get, but he was just too tired to fathom out what Johnny meant. "What?"

"Francis has been completely blaming himself for what happened to you." Johnny said, to the point. When Jason didn't say anything, he pressed forward. "He's been like a machine since. One hundred percent, all the time. Like, he's not going to let anything else happen even if it kills him."

Jason narrowed his eyes, "That wasn't his fault."

"You should tell him that, because he doesn't believe the rest of us. He feels he shouldn't have left Sonny to get the car, which is probably right, but he had no way of knowing what would go down." Johnny explained. "He also feels that he shouldn't have taken for granted that you being there meant that everything was fine, so he could go after the gunman."

At that, Jason was confused. Really, he couldn't quite remember if Francis had been there that night at all. Johnny saw this and answered without needing to be questioned. "Afterwards, he explained that he'd seen you go in front of Sonny and assumed that you could take care of things there. He didn't know you'd been hit, so he went after that guy. When that asshole got away, he came back. He thought that you could have been saved if he'd gotten the car to get you help sooner."

Jason shook his head. The guards weren't just his fellow employees or even just the people he could order around, as second in command. Francis was his friend, and he didn't like that the other man could think that. "There was nothing he could have done. That bullet was coated in something to make me seem dead."

Johnny nodded, "We know that now, thanks to Elizabeth. Once we had Carly under control, I called him to come in so I could explain."

"He doesn't still blame himself?" Jason asked.

"He does. Which is why he's still on some sort of Robo-Guard mode." Johnny said, a little bitter. "The girls will be safe with him."

Jason muttered a choice word or two under his breath, "I want to talk to him, when he gets back."

Johnny smiled, "I hoped you would."

Tired again, and more than annoyed to feel that way, Jason pulled a hand down his face, "Is there anything else I need to know?"

"Michael is obviously still at Bobbie's, and Carly hasn't told him yet. This is going to really screw with that kid's concept of life and death." Johnny said, wincing. All of the guards had a soft spot for Michael Corinthos, most of them having known him his whole life.

Jason swore again. He hated that Michael was getting so effected by all of this. It wasn't fair to the little boy. "Anything else?" he repeated.

"Just that there's a big breakfast plate with your name on it downstairs and if I don't report to Sonny that you ate the whole thing, I'm the next guy to die around here."

Really, Jason thought, he'd just rather pass out again.

_-- Limousine_

In the first ten minutes after Carly left, Elizabeth tried to construct her speech for Emily. In the thirty seconds after that, she concluded that this was just going to have to happen organically, because everything she could think of sounded like she was crazy, lying or completely speaking bullshit. Often all three.

Really, with Sonny this was much easier. Jason just showed up, and Sonny had to put together the pieces. If anything, he should have asked him how he started out this explanation with Carly. That would have been much more helpful. The only thing she'd been told was to take a picture of Jason sleeping in the penthouse, just for proof. She wouldn't be able to give it to Emily for her own talks, though, since it getting lost and then found by the wrong people would be beyond problematic, but at least she'd be able to tell the Quartermaine's that yes, she'd _seen_ Jason.

"Miss Webber.."

Elizabeth cut Marco off quickly, "Elizabeth." She stressed.

"Elizabeth," Marco said, sounding a little bit exasperated, "Carly and Emily are heading this way."

She felt her stomach slip just a little bit closer to her toes. "Thanks." She said after a second. Once she properly focused through the window, she could see Carly and a limping Emily walking towards them. They weren't talking, but then no one would have expected them to. Carly had intended to purposely make it sound like she was just letting Emily see Michael out of some combination of guilt and duty.

Francis opened the door, and Elizabeth could see his eyes sweeping the landscape, watching for threats. Carly slid in the seat but Emily didn't quite move so gracefully. The second she sat down the door was quickly shut and Emily was left to blink in surprise at Elizabeth, who sat in the bench opposite her.

"Hi Em." Elizabeth greeted happily.

Once she'd spoken, Emily seemed to shake herself out of whatever daze she'd been in. "Elizabeth?" She asked, "Where in the hell have you been? Do you have any idea how worried I've been?"

"Emily, calm down." Elizabeth ordered, leaning over to put a hand on Emily's leg. "Calm down, okay? I'll explain everything."

Emily took a deep breath, "You're okay?"

Elizabeth smiled, that was an easy enough question. "Better than ever."

That seemed to bring Emily up short, her mind no doubt turning to Jason. "Elizabeth..."

"Jason is alive."

* * *

_Please excuse the mildly abrupt ending. I'm trying to get things moving, so going over and over again that he's alive isn't high on my priority list. You'll see some of those conversations, when it's important. _

_I also hope that no one is annoyed/confused with the heavier role the guards will play in this story. Obviously, having Jason trapped in the penthouse with a gunshot wound is a familiar plotline of mine...so I wanted to help spice things up a little and include the other guys. I'll keep it to what were the principle four that I always remembered from the show at the time: Max, Marco, Johnny and Francis. This plot was always intended to be more complicated than others of mine, but I don't want this to be some mega-story that I'll never get straightened out enough to want to write. I cut back a lot of the plans I had (the ones I could remember, at least) to make it something I could actually get going. _

_Hopefully everyone enjoyed the chapter. Please, REVIEW!_


	29. Threads

**Shadowing Death: **Threads

--

_Thanks to the reviewers for the last chapter! _

_Okay, I was going to bring in, just as a mention for now, the character of Sonny's accountant who died during a later part of the show that obviously won't be happening during this story. I seriously thought his name was Benny, but everywhere I check it's listed as Bernie. I'm in total shock, I don't ever remember it being that! I know the actor that played him though, Richard Fancy, and he's down on IMDb as Bernie Abrams. Is this name confusion just me? Let me know what you guys remember! _

_I'll write his name as Bernie for this chapter, but it feels weird..._

* * *

_-- Alcazar's Yatch_

Antonio Corsi adjusted his tie and gripped the folder in his hands even tighter. Ordinarily, he wouldn't be quite so visibly nervous, but he couldn't really help it. Luis Alcazar wasn't known for being a particularly patient man, not even very loyal. Where Jason Morgan would always been Sonny Corinthos' enforcer and that was just a well-known fact that only death could change, Alcazar trusted only himself. It bred a feared respect, but virtually no feeling of job stability.

Normally, he was a confident man. After all, he'd gotten this high up in such a man's organization. In this moment, he was sure that some of his success had to do with the fact that things hadn't fallen apart quite as badly as they were right now. He looked down at the mostly disappointing folder in his hands angrily, "Bullshit." He whispered.

He knocked on the door forcefully. Just enough to keep Alcazar from knowing that he was nervous, but not disrespectfully demanding.

"Enter."

Corsi opened the door and strode inside Alcazar's office. "Sir, I have the reports you wanted." He tried to keep the resentful edge to his voice and managed it perfectly. He'd really been against the plan from the beginning. What did they need New York for? _Nothing_.

Alcazar lazily waved his hand to the seat across his desk. "Tell me."

Best to get the worst news out of the way, he thought. "Thus far, we have no visual confirmation on Morgan or Webber."

"What locations do we have under surveillence?" Alcazar asked, his voice tight as if he was trying hard not to get angry at such a fact. Corsi had heard that in his voice before - it didn't mean good things anyone's health.

Pulling some papers from his folder, Corsi outlined each report. "We've got outside men on the Quartermaine mansion. As our stats on Morgan stated, it's unlikely that he would go to them for help. His sister is the most likely person he would be in contact with. We've had someone tailing her at a distance. She and AJ Quartermaine, however, have closed ranks there and we've been unable to get audio or visual of inside the grounds."

"Anything with the sister?" Alcazar asked, eyeing the photos that Corsi whipped out, glad to have something to show.

"There seemed to be a chance meeting between the girl and Carly Corinthos at a department store. They briefly spoke about Corinthos' son and the wife offered to bring Morgan's sister with her to see him at his Grandmother's." Corsi explained. He opened his mouth to continue, but Alcazar beat him to it.

"Surveillence there?" Alcazar interrupted.

Corsi nodded. "One man and audio." He answered. "The meeting between the two seemed unlikely, but Corinthos' wife didn't appear happy to see the girl. The invitation was..._obligation_. At Bobbie Spencer's, nothing out of the ordinary was heard"

"Is it likely that Corinthos' wife is that good an actress?" Alcazar asked, sifting through the pictures of the meeting.

Antonio hesitated. "She's a loose cannon, but if properly motivated..."

Alcazar nodded, understanding what Corsi hadn't said. "Protecting Morgan would properly motivate her." He finished. "Next location."

"We kept an eye on most of the entrances to General Hospital, in case Webber risked bringing him there. Obviously, that was a dead end. We've put an orderly to keep an eye on Monica Quartermaine's hospital room. He has confirmed audio inside her room." Corsi explained. At least some other asshole had a guarantee on his life for another week.

Alcazar waved away the small victory. "Virtually useless."

Corsi had to agree. He didn't let his frustration show, "Probably. We have someone keeping an eye on Webber's studio, but after getting picked up there she'd have to be stupid to go back."

"She's not stupid." Alcazar quietly acknowledged.

There, again, he had to agree. Elizabeth Webber hadn't seemed like the usual type of empty-headed mob slut. "We also have a man watching her Grandmother's home, though we didn't bother with a bug."

"Other family?" Alcazar questioned.

Antonio shook his head, "No, there's almost the same situation there as with Morgan. The Grandmother is the only one in the tri-state area. Morgan would have been too injured to get out of town."

"She's not going to put her Grandmother at risk. Re-locate the man there." Alcazar ordered.

A good call, Corsi agreed. "Yes, sir." He answered.

"Next."

"All known warehouses and buildings leased to Sonny Corinthos, the Corinthos-Morgan company or Jason Morgan himself. That includes properties on the docks." Corsi said, bringing yet more paper out of the folder. "We've kept as close an eye as possible on the docks properties, but Corinthos has those incredibly well protected. We can only get so close."

Alcazar nodded, clearly expecting that. "Try and get audio in the ones we can. It's a risk, I know, but I want only well qualified men going near those."

Antonio nodded, glad to finally get a level-headed answer out of the man. Alcazar was a smart man, but lately he had seemed anything but. "Yes, sir." He repeated as per Alcazar's requirements of him. "There's also Harborview Towers."

"No audio or video." Alcazar said, not even bothering to tell him to try. It was well known in the business that Sonny Corinthos was obsessively paranoid about family safety. His organization had secured the entire block that his apartment building was in and owned the building itself. Only trusted individuals lived there. It wasn't a known fact, because otherwise the PCPD would be all over the place, but Antonio could appreciate the necessity of it. It was better than Alcazar's goddamned floating fortress.

"Send men down the street at random intervals in different cars. I want the best we can get on that block of buildings." Alcazar ordered, conviently forgetting that others had tried to things like that before and had been killed for it. Yeah, Antonio thought, Sonny Corinthos was a freakishly paranoid man.

His "Yes, sir." was a little less neutral than before but he said it nonetheless. "We have audio confirmation on Bernie Abrams office, as well as Alexis Davis'."

"Davis is unlikely, don't bother."

He nodded, "Abrams?"

Alcazar thought about it a second, "Keep it." He ordered finally. "Anything else?"

Corsi thought a second before revealing his thoughts, "I'd have to assume that Morgan and Webber got to Sonny Corinthos. We've looked at previous addresses for both, and there was nothing there. Either they've vanished into thin air, or they're with him."

"Then they're with him." Alcazar ground out angrily. He clenched his fist and Antonio watched him carefully. "Have the guards on duty from the night they escaped taught a...lesson." He ordered.

"Yes, sir."

"I want audio in Quartermaine mansion." He ordered, though Corsi thought that was a waste. A guy like Morgan wasn't going to go to a family like that for help.

"Yes, sir."

"How has Larson been in rising ranks at Corinthos'?" Alcazar asked, refering to the man they'd planted in Corinthos' organization. A notoriously hard thing to do.

Antonio fished out the final page of his reports. "He says he's gaining trust, but a lot of those men were loyal to Morgan."

"Loyal to Morgan, not Corinthos." Alcazar pointed out, "Have him keep spreading distrust in Corinthos. He can play off Morgan's 'death' if he wants."

"Yes, sir."

Corsi watched as Alcazar's body language changed then. He watched without trying to look like he was doing so. After the man had visibly forced his hand to unclench and his body to relax, he asked, "Brenda?"

He'd made it seem casual, but Antonio knew better. Lovesick obsessed idiot. "Nothing."

"We're done. Leave."

_-- Outside Monica Quartermaine's Hospital Room _

Emily hobbled forward on her crutches, her mind still racing from the long conversation she'd had with AJ. He'd been stunned, to say the least. She couldn't blame him - everyone thought he hated Jason, but that just wasn't true. Sometimes, even Emily was fooled, but all she cold remember was before Jason's accident. They fought, but it was clear that AJ loved his little brother. How could he not? Jason and AJ had both been sent to boarding school at a young age, but Monica and Alan weren't about to send them to different ones. Through the years, they'd disappointed both boys, missing games and plays and parent days, but that had only strengthened the relationship between the brothers. They were the only family they had to count on.

And maybe that had changed when they got to return home, and maybe AJ's drinking had weaked the relationship, but it hadn't changed everything. And maybe AJ couldn't stop competing with Jason, maybe he'd hurt his brother physically and mentally and emotionally, but it didn't change him from loving Jason.

It was, Emily had long ago decided, a very destructive love.

She'd always thought that they'd be better off and more able to deal with eachother if it wasn't there, but she was grateful for AJ's bizarre older brother instincts now.

He agreed with what Carly had told her, that she should act as if she was constantly being trailed and that each room she went in was bugged. It was safest for Jason and really, everyone involved.

Originally, she and AJ had beefed up security at home when reporters from all over decided that Jason's life made for a great story and they'd do anything for the inside scoop. They had hired a very pricey, very discreet company to keep people out, and they would have to hope that it was enough. Sonny had said that he was sending some of his own men to join in with their private security force and AJ had willingly agreed to handle the details there.

She envied him, because her task was much harder.

She certainly wasn't telling the whole family by herself. Though AJ wasn't anymore willing to do the deed himself, he'd recognized the complete and total cruelty of that and once Emily called to tell him that Mom was coming home, he'd head over to help her.

No, her job was to get Mom _out _of the hospital.

Sighing, Emily went into her mother's room and closed the door. "Having a nice lunch, Mom?"

She'd hoped that it was something nasty like greasy mac-and-cheese, green jello and bread with day-glo butter spread, but clearly being the Chief of Staff's wife got you some nice perks - edible food among them.

Monica looked up from what she was barely eating and gave a strained smile to her daughter. "Sit down, Emily."

Emily did so gratefully. Her back didn't ache like it used to and soon she wouldn't need any help at all, but it had been an _active _few days. "Do all the patients get that turkey club or are you just special?"

"Emily." Monica said wearily. "Please."

Conceeding that annoying her mother wasn't the nicest thing to do, Emily dropped her act just a little. "I hear you talked with Michael." She started as she pulled a piece of paper from her bag soundlessly. "He told me all about it. I saw Carly at Wyndams..." She kept up her story, never stopping long enough to let anyone listening know that she was doing anything else. She slid the piece of paper in front of her mother and watched as Monica made to open her mouth.

Emily pushed her finger against her mom's lips and gestured to the piece of paper as she kept talking about her visit to Michael.

_Mom, _

_DON'T SAY A WORD. This is important. I'm not playing a joke. _

_I know that you don't want to leave the hospital, but we have to go. There's some news about Jason that you have to know, but we can't be sure that things are safe here. I can tell you at home, where we're going. _

_Once I finish talking about Michael, I'm going to bring up you going home. Then I will tell you I'm going to the bathroom, that's so I can flush this down the toilet. Yes, that's how serious this is. _

_You cannot let on that anything else is going, someone might be listening. _

_Tell me you'll give home a try when I get out of the bathroom. Make it convincing, okay? _

_Please, Mom, if you love Jason at all, you'll come home with me. _

Emily kept talking but her mind was reading over the words that she'd carefully written in AJ's apartment. She watched her mother read the words once, then twice.

Finally Monica looked up and nodded.

_-- Corinthos Apartment _

Elizabeth still wasn't entirely sure what she was needed for in this conversation, but she wasn't about to interrupt to question Carly's quiet request that she sit with Sonny and Carly as they explained to their son that while dead people can't come back to life, his uncle had, though he'd never been dead at all.

Her headached just thinking about the way Sonny was trying to explain things, but her heart ached even more for the little boy who sat there, his mixed up emotions playing constantly on his face.

"But Mommy said you saw!" Michael pointed out.

He was protesting the whole thing, and that hurt them all. Elizabeth knew that Carly and Sonny had fully been anticipating having to hold Michael down from seeing Jason before they were sure that he understood what they were trying to say as well as could be expected.

That wasn't the case at all. Michael clearly didn't want to believe that Jason was alive and for what reason, they couldn't be sure.

"I did, Michael, but I told you, a very bad man made Jason sick and so I only thought he was gone." Sonny patiently explained. Elizabeth had to respect his strength, she and Carly had already broken down in tears.

"That's stupid!" Michael yelled and Elizabeth was inclined to agree, "How could you not _know_?"

"Michael." Carly whispered.

Her son flushed a little and said in a near whisper himself, "Sorry, Dad."

"It's okay, Michael." Sonny forgave easily. He ran his hand over his eyes and Elizabeth remembered that he'd spent the whole day at meetings when all everyone had wanted to was to sort out what was going on.

"Honey," Carly started, "What is it you don't understand?" She asked, and Elizabeth appreciated that she was going straight into the heart of the matter.

Michael shuffled his feet, "You said he wasn't coming home again."

Carly smiled sadly, "If he had died, Mr. Man, he wouldn't come home, no. We didn't know he was still alive, because everything said that he had. They gave him something to make his heard go so slow and so quiet that even a doctor would have said Jason had died. We couldn't have known."

"But you said he's still sick. What if it happens again?" Michael asked, sounding like he was gearing up again.

Sonny fielded this, "He's getting better. We're going to make sure of that."

"Why?"

Elizabeth knew the boy wasn't asking why they were going to make sure Jason got better. Nothing even close. He wanted to know why this had happened. Why had someone hated Jason so much that they would want to do this to him, make him seem dead. Maybe the boy wasn't thinking that specifically, but it boiled down to the same question.

All three adults stared at Michael for a second. Finally, Sonny answered, "We don't know."

Not a total lie, but enough of the truth. They _didn't _know everything.

Elizabeth smiled at Michael then, sensing he was just as scared that Jason was going to disappear if he believed them as she had been on that boat. "Why don't we go upstairs and visit him, Michael?" She offered finally. Sonny and Carly turned to look at her, surprised. She hadn't said anything at all yet, but this she was sure about. Carly nodded permission to her and Elizabeth knew that the woman was both relieved and wary.

Michael didn't say anything, didn't even look at her. So Elizabeth took charge and pulled Michael to his feet. The boy followed her obediently enough, but still said nothing as they went up the stairs.

Elizabeth didn't bother knocking on Jason's door; instead she just stuck her head in. She saw, with a rush of gratitude, that he was awake. Sleeping was too close to dead looking.

"Someone wants to see you." She said simply as he raised an eyebrow.

Gently, she brought Michael around from behind her.

Jason smiled, "Come here, buddy."

* * *

_I had just told someone I thought that I wouldn't finish this anytime soon. See what happens when I get properly motivated? _

_**Please, REVIEW!**_


	30. Shaky

**Shadowing Death: **Shaky

_Thank you to all of the readers and reviewers who put up with my long absences! It's kind of been a while for this one, I know. _

_

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_

_---Quartermaine Mansion _

Monica sat down on the couch next to Alan, strangely calm. Maybe this was more shock and she'd feel it later, but right at that moment, she couldn't even begin to define her feelings. Alan's hand shook in hers and she squeezed it, hoping to provide whatever comfort she could.

Emily let the story pour out and no one in the room stopped her. Ned stood off to the side, hand gripping his chin as he let his mind spin around the possibilities. Monica looked towards him fondly, she could tell that he was analyzing the situation as though it were a business deal. Edward sat down next to Lila with much the same look on his face.

"You have to understand how important it is that we not let on that anyone has been in contact with us about this." Emily said, her hands wringing in front of her as her speech wound down to a close. "Jason's put a lot of trust in us – not just his safety but our own."

"Then we shall not disappoint him." Lila spoke, her voice soft and shaky but her words powerful. Rarely did Lila outright order any of the family to do anything, preferring to let them find their own ways so that the lessons would come with time, but occasionally she spoke like a Queen and they were powerless to disobey.

AJ nodded from behind Alan and Monica. Emily had kept her eyes away from her brother carefully throughout the whole explanation. He interjected where he could, but otherwise let her hash it all out.

Edward nodded with Lila, but couldn't seem to resist, "He would be safer here."

"Does Sonny have some sort of medical care for him?" Alan asked, seemingly agreeing with his father. "Monica and I could handle that from home."

AJ jumped in, "Dad, you know Jason's not going to come here. You'll just be starting a fight where he can't afford to have one."

"For once, I agree with Junior." Ned interjected before Alan or Edward could say anything. AJ's lips tightened at the old much-hated nickname, but he thankfully left well enough alone. "Jason's asking for help, just like you've all wanted for years. Don't push."

"The boy would be safer here, that is all I'm saying!" Edward argued, voice raising, "This would be an excellent time…"

Lila would take none of her husband's nonsense, "To learn from our past mistakes and take only what he is willing to give us. Pushing for more only pushes him away."

Emily smiled at her Grandmother, "Yes, exactly."

"What exactly does Jason want, Emily?" Monica asked, speaking for the first time.

All eyes turned to the youngest Quartermaine. "Mostly, just for us to know he's alive. That's what Elizabeth said. He didn't want us to think he was still dead any longer than we had to. Now, all we need to do is be careful. Don't let on that we know, don't act differently than we have been."

"Easier said than done," Alan muttered, "My son is alive and you want me to act as if he's dead."

"Your son needs you and you want to act as if it's a hardship." Ned countered.

"There is no more need for discussion." Lila said firmly. "Jason is alive and all we need to do in order to help keep him that way is to play our roles. Should this prove too difficult, stay home under the guise of grieving. As Emily said, we should be safe to speak of him here. If he needs something else, we will cross that bridge when we come to it."

Emily flashed a relieved smile to AJ, who sent her a matching one back. They'd won this round in the family. She just had to hope that nothing would go wrong, and if it did, that it wouldn't be Quartermaine induced.

Slowly the family trickled out of the room, all to probably try to take a moment and process what they'd just been told. Emily knew exactly how they felt.

Monica gave Alan a kiss as he got up and walked to the side door to the terrace, a new habit of his. When the door was safely closed and only she and Emily remained in the room, she spoke, "Emily, I want you to try to speak to Carly."

"About what, Mom?" Emily asked, though she had an idea.

"You've already gotten her to let you see Michael, and I know that was half for show. See if you can't get to her to publically invite your father and I to go with you next time." Monica asked.

Emily sighed, "Mom…"

"Please, sweetheart." Monica said, her voice breaking a little. "I need to see my son. Just try, _please_."

The fight, whatever little of it she had, went right out of her. She offered her Mother a sad smile. "I'll try, but you might have to wait until this is over."

Monica nodded and leaned her head back against the couch. Quite honestly, she was tired.

_--- Corinthos Penthouse_

"He has a reputation for being ruthless." Sonny told Jason.

Much of Jason's time at the penthouse had been spent asleep or being told _to_ sleep, which had begun to annoy him. The only thing that kept him from snapping had been the looks in Sonny and Carly's eyes. Every time he so much as winced or seemed to be the slightest bit in pain they stared at him as though he was going to go into cardiac arrest. It was going to take a while before that kind of fear fell away and Jason did want to make it as easy as possible for them, but it was still hard sitting around so much. He was relieved that Sonny had decided to come talk to him about Alcazar and his impressions of their new enemy if for no other reason than it took his mind off the bed they'd stuck him in.

"Matches up." Jason decided, "There's no fair-play in what he was going to do."

"No honor either." Sonny said, shifting in the chair. Jason had noticed how uncomfortable Sonny had been with talking about what had happened and the time he'd spent thinking Jason was dead. Every time the slightest mention of it came up, Sonny started fidgeting and had even come up with an excuse to leave the day before.

Jason nodded, "I think he's obsessed with Brenda. Something seemed off about him."

"So we're mixing a ruthless arms dealer with some power behind him and mental instability?" Sonny questioned aloud. "Brenda's always got to be dramatic. Couldn't she of just floated past some old retired sea captain or something?"

Jason didn't have an answer for that. Inwardly, he agreed with Sonny. Brenda, without even meaning to, tended to create problems beyond what either of them were capable of dreaming up and planning for.

"I gotta go to the safehouse again, let her know you're… _back_." Sonny said, shifting again.

Nodding, Jason watched Sonny carefully. "We didn't get to talk about it, before." Jason said, leaving out that _before_ he'd been supposedly dying. "How's it been, seeing here again?"

Sonny's eyes slid away from Jason's face and instead he stared out the window. "Strange." He decided, "I'm glad she's okay, that she's alive. I get what she was trying to do by letting everyone think she was dead."

"I don't." Jason said. He had experience with the decision, after all.

"You were… you _are_ going to be okay, Jason. She's not. She's dying." Sonny said, turning back to him. "That's different. Why make the people you love grieve for you twice?"

Jason narrowed his eyes at Sonny, "I will." He pointed out. Everyone's got to die sometime. So what if he'd supposedly already done it? It would happen for real again someday. That didn't mean he was going to let everyone believe him dead while he waited it out.

Sonny waved his hand as though he was brushing the argument away, "You're not dying. It could be decades before something happens to you. She'll be lucky if she's got seven, eight years." Jason made a face, but Sonny didn't need the words that went with it. "Listen, man, I didn't say I'd do what she did, I'm just saying I get it."

"Fine." Jason said, letting it go. "So you two are okay?"

Sonny tilted his head to the side and considered the question, "As okay as we could probably ever be."

"Carly's okay?"

This made Sonny grin, "Oh, she doesn't like it. I had to tell her, but now she glares at me if she thinks I'm going to see Brenda."

Jason shifted in the bed, trying to decide if sitting up higher and the resulting pull to his stitches was worth it, "You go and see her a lot?"

"Nah, few times." Sonny answered, dismissing what he knew Jason's concern was. "Trust me, Jason, I'm not going down that road again. But, ah, speaking of going down roads again…" He said, smiling.

"What?" Jason said, carefully sitting up straighter. He clenched his jaw against the pain, though it was no longer the white flare-out in his vision that it used to be, so that Sonny wouldn't see.

Still, his friend practically lunged forward, "Jesus, Jason. Ask for help next time!" He said as he adjusted the pillows behind Jason's back.

"I've got it." Jason assured, "You guys hover too much."

"We thought you were dead," Sonny shot back, voice strained. "We can't just let that go."

Jason closed his eyes, feeling guilty again. "I know. I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Sonny nearly whispered, "Not your fault."

A tense silence fell between them as Sonny predictably started shifting in his seat again. "So, Elizabeth Webber." He said, finally.

"What about her?" Jason asked, refusing to give an inch. Elizabeth had told him that Sonny and Carly didn't really seem to have much to say about their 'new' relationship, but Jason knew that was going to wear off soon enough. It at least explained the roads comment from before.

Sonny shook his head, "Nothing, man. I'm just sayin', you guys seem pretty close."

Jason narrowed his eyes at Sonny, "Yeah…" He said, letting the word trail off as though he couldn't possibly understand what Sonny meant.

Sonny jerked his head away, "Fine, I got it. Don't ask."

Before Jason could say anything back, the door to his room/prison opened and Carly poked her head in. "Sonny, Luke is downstairs and wants to talk to you now."

"Luke Spencer?" Sonny asked, sounding surprised. Truthfully, Jason was too. The whole town knew that what had happened to Lucky had nothing to do with Sonny and Jason, but the relationships had never quite recovered. Though, Elizabeth had told him that Luke had been at his funeral.

"Yeah, so get down there. One more 'Caroline' and I'll find one of your guns." Carly threatened while she entered the room and sat down on Jason's bed. "Go."

Sonny rolled his eyes, "Yes, ma'am."

"Luke, what can I do for you?" Sonny asked, walking down the stairs into the living room. Luke was sitting at Sonny's desk, feet up as if he owned the place. Not so much disrespect, just Luke's particular brand of self-confidence.

Sarcastically, Luke smiled, "Well, my friend, you can start by telling me what this was doing in my sister's place." He said, tossing a little black device into the air.

Sonny caught it and looked it over, "A bug?"

"A deactivated bug." Luke corrected, sitting up in the chair and leaning forward. "Now, I ask myself, do I have enemies that might like to use my sister to get information on me? Sure. But Sonny, my life's been pretty low-key lately. The home fires have been pretty tame."

"You're never tame, Luke." Sonny reminded, walking to his wet bar. Luke was almost always easier to handle when Sonny had some scotch in him. He held the decanter out to Luke, inviting.

"No, thanks." Luke declined, "Could someone be stirring up trouble with me? It's always a possibility, man. But that's not what I think is going on."

Sonny took a long sip from his glass, "And what do you think is going on?"

"I know how these things go, Sonny." Luke said, a little less angry and a little gentler. "Shit is hitting the fan because of Jason. I've been keeping an ear to the floor, partly because Bobbie's got some strange attachment to Carly. Someone takes out a kid as smart as Jason in front of a church is someone to watch out for. So you level with me… how much danger are Carly, Michael and Bobbie in?"

"I've got guards for Carly and Michael and one will be on Bobbie, I give you my word." Sonny said. It wouldn't be the first time that he'd had men silently tracking Carly's mother and he doubted it would be the last.

Luke shook his head, looking a little annoyed, "That ain't what I asked, Corinthos. What the hell is going on? I'm not leaving until you tell me what I want to hear."

Sonny stared at Luke and made his decision almost instantly. He set the glass down and gestured for Luke to follow him up the stairs. Luke stayed silent behind him, and stepped into Jason's room when Sonny opened the door.

"Well, that's interesting."

* * *

_I couldn't resist a little Luke, even though he's hard to write. Let me know what you think **please**!_


	31. Chess

**Shadowing Death: **Chess

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

_Thanks for all of the reviews for the last chapter! Much appreciated (and squealed over!)_

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_**- Corinthos Penthouse**_

_Sonny stared at Luke and made his decision almost instantly. He set the glass down and gestured for Luke to follow him up the stairs. Luke stayed silent behind him, and stepped into Jason's room when Sonny opened the door._

_"Well, that's interesting."_

"Honey?" Carly asked from Jason's bed in a sickly sweet voice, "What part of 'get rid of him' translated into 'bring him upstairs and spill our secrets' in your mind?"

Luke barely glanced at Carly, he was so intently watching Jason, who for his part didn't really seem to mind. "Niece, be quiet and let the adults talk, yeah?"

Carly rolled her eyes and shot Sonny and Luke a murderous look. Without another word, she walked out of Jason's room. Luke didn't even step aside to let her through, he just kept watching Jason with narrowed eyes. "Kid, I gotta know… you set this up?"

"No." Jason said shortly, almost annoyed that Luke would think it. "Another man did."

"New player?" Luke asked, intrigued. He sat down next to Jason's bed, his momentary shock already gone. Sonny shook his head at Luke, but then, he really shouldn't have been surprised that Luke would take news of someone returning from the dead quite so well.

Sonny pulled a new chair over to Jason's bed. "Luis Alcazar, arms dealer, mob connections, bad reputation, Brenda Barrett." He said, summing the whole thing up. Part of the reason why he'd told Luke the truth was because the man's mind worked quickly, Luke wouldn't need a whole lot of back-story to be able to give them some much-appreciated advice. Besides, he knew he could trust Luke to keep quiet about Jason.

"Brenda?" Luke asked, curious. "What's she got to do with anything?"

"She's alive too." Jason admitted. Sonny tried not to think about how absurd the sentence should and yet didn't sound.

Luke gave a low whistle. "You're kidding."

Sonny shook his head, "Nah, man, she's at one of my safe-houses."

"Okay, so Jason and Brenda are alive and well, and it's all connected to this one guy?" Luke asked, piecing it together. "He in love with her or something?"

"Seems to be." Jason said, thinking back on his few conversations with Alcazar. Sonny nodded next to him, because Brenda had definitely said as much.

"We talking real love here," Luke, an expert on men kidnapping women because they were 'in love', asked "Or is this some sick half-love half-revenge scenario."

"The second, I'd say." Sonny said. "We don't know a lot about the guy and Brenda's only been able to give us so much."

Luke nodded, now looking troubled that something of this magnitude could be happening in his town when he'd had no knowledge of it. "I can keep my ear to the ground for you, do some discreet asking around?"

"That would be appreciated." Sonny accepted. "So long as you're careful. This guy was planning on trading Jason back for Brenda and nearly killed Jason to do it."

"Oh, 'Careful' is my middle name." Luke replied with a grin.

Jason almost snorted, which was a strange sound coming from him. "Yeah, sure."

"If I might throw an idea on the table," Luke said, sobering up pretty quickly. "Why not force his hand a little? If he's doing all this for a woman who seems to be pretty content to hang around her ex's safe house and wait this thing out then he's got to have a few screws loose."

Sonny leaned back in his chair. He didn't particularly want to force Alcazar into doing anything if the man was erratic. He'd already had to deal with the 'loss' of Jason, and wasn't sure if he was willing to risk anymore. Still, Luke would know what Sonny wasn't willing to say and understand. He waved a hand at the man, gesturing for him to continue.

"With Jason outta commission here, it's probably better if he lays low." Luke said, while ignoring Jason's glare. "But Brenda… he's probably not going to hurt her. If the whole world knows about her, how's he going to quietly steal her away in the night?"

Jason turned to Sonny immediately. To him it sounded like a good idea, but he'd never been in love with Brenda. "It sounds good to me, if you're okay with it."

Sonny shrugged and looked uncomfortable to putting Brenda at risk. "You swept Bobbie's place for bugs?" He directed to Luke, changing the subject.

"Of course. Clean as a whistle." Luke said, going with the flow of the conversation. He'd thrown the idea out there, but he had no illusions that he had lines in Sonny's play. The mobster would reveal Brenda only if he wanted to.

"We're going to have to talk to Johnny about checking out different locations." Jason said, almost unnecessarily.

Nodding, Sonny had to agree. He was admittedly paranoid about security, but apparently not paranoid enough. "I'll get him on it."

Luke opened his mouth to say something, but a somewhat tentative knock on the door stopped him. Jason called out his permission and Elizabeth walked in.

"Luke!" She said, a little surprised, but then, Luke really shouldn't ever be a surprise. He always seemed to have his finger in a bit of everything. "Hi,"

"Elizabeth." Luke greeted, nodding and grinning as though the whole thing was a big joke. "I think I should steal you out from under Jason. You're a great life insurance policy."

It was a compliment, probably, but Sonny wasn't sure what Luke was going for. Elizabeth wasn't either, apparently. She gave Luke a confused look.

"Forget Helen of Troy, darlin'" Luke said, grinning at Elizabeth, "You've got a face that raises dead boyfriends back to life!"

Elizabeth covered her face, cheeks turning red. "Thanks, Luke. I think."

Sonny decided to take pity on her. "Why don't we take this downstairs, Luke." He said, smiling in spite of Elizabeth's embarrassment. Even Jason looked like he wanted to laugh.

**-...-…-...-**

Elizabeth watched the door close behind Sonny and Luke, face cooling down after Luke's bizarre back-handed compliment. "Well, he's right about one thing."

"Luke?" Jason asked, "What?"

She turned back to him and smiled a little helplessly. "I've done this once before. It shouldn't be so…" She shrugged her shoulders and then made some random motion with her hands that was supposed to encompass the entire situation but probably made her look more like a deranged ballerina.

Jason got it, though. He always did. He raised his arm up on his good side and Elizabeth immediately took the invitation.

"I'm giving out good news. Emily and Michael were, _are, _ecstatic that you're okay. All I have to do is tell them and lay low here with you, and it just seems like so much more." She said, carefully curling up next to him. "I don't know why."

"You don't have to understand why you feel anything. That you do at all is enough." Jason said and the words almost immediately absolved her of the mixed up feelings that had been hounding her the last couple of days.

"Everything is happening so fast, but it feels like forever ago that it started." Elizabeth said.

Jason nodded, "I know what you mean."

She didn't say anything else and he didn't push her, he just held her against him. It was kind of all she needed. After a few minutes, they could hear the door close downstairs, Luke presumably leaving.

"How did he get involved?" Elizabeth asked.

"He found a bug at Bobbie's." Jason answered.

She liked that he was still so forthcoming. Would that change when everything sorted out? She didn't want to think about it. "And Sonny was the first person he could think of?"

"He guessed it was connected to all of the things that have been happening in the business. He's probably right. Alcazar is looking hard for us." Jason answered, letting his hand run up and down her arm.

That wasn't a surprise. "Do you think he's figured out that we're here?"

Jason thought about it for a second. "Harborview Towers specifically?" He asked, mostly speaking out loud. He didn't need it, but she nodded anyway. "Maybe… but I'm sure he's realized that we're out of his reach now. He has to know that the reason he didn't catch us was because we got to Sonny."

"What would he try to get to us?"

"Nothing." Jason said, and this time he didn't pause to think. "Everyone knows this building is impossible to get into. After the last bomb scare, packages are even scanned. There's no way in that Sonny won't know about."

Elizabeth took that in, trying to tell her heart that Jason was sure, that he wouldn't give her false hope. Still, she couldn't stop the next question that came out of her mouth. "So there's really no chance that we could be hurt here?"

"There's a chance for everything," Jason said, "But I don't think it will happen. It's the stuff outside that Sonny and I have to worry about."

"And me." She added immediately. Jason opened his mouth, but she couldn't stand to hear whatever denial he had on his lips. "Don't, Jason. Please don't."

He didn't. He just kissed her hair. "We're going to be okay." He promised.

Maybe there was too much happening too fast, maybe she was afraid of what was going to happen during and after this war that Sonny seemed to be gearing up for… but she believed him. She believed him with her whole heart.

The knot in her stomach loosened.

******-...-…-...-**

"So Luke Spencer knows?" Benny asked, sounding not at all surprised… long-suffering, maybe.

Sonny nodded and Johnny grinned. "Luke found a bug at Bobbie Spencer's brownstone. We need to start sweeping for surveillance equipment more widely and more frequently."

Johnny nodded and Sonny had complete confidence that their properties and the properties of people close to them would begin inspections within the hour.

Continuing, Sonny addressed the both of them, "Any of them men who shouldn't know suspect anything?"

Johnny shook his head immediately, "I don't think so. Mostly they're still concerned with plans for retaliation or how things are going to be restructured in Jason's absence. Some think you're being too slow."

"They think I'm being weak." Sonny stated, and neither Johnny nor Benny thought it was a question. "Then they're the fools. Keep an eye on anyone throwing around their weight."

"One of the new recruits is causing some problems." Benny reported.

"Name?" Sonny asked, stepping over to his desk to lean against it. Every day felt like an eternity and had ever since the whole thing had started.

Benny glanced at Johnny to see if he had any ideas, "Kyle Larson."

"Only been around a few months." Johnny remarked, thinking it over.

Benny nodded, "Exactly. That's why I was surprised to see him in my office."

Sonny's men didn't go to Benny unless they were higher up or they'd been sent by Sonny or Jason. Some new recruit, barely trusted to make the deliveries that Jason had started on years ago, showing up was not unprecedented, but rare. "What did he have to say?" Sonny asked, running his hand over his chin while he thought it over.

"Vague questions, mostly." Benny answered. "He wasn't fishing, but it was definitely about chain of command. This was before we found out about Jason. He's not even the newest runner we've got."

Sonny nodded, "Watch him too. If we've got a mole, we've got to be even more careful."

Johnny didn't think such a thing was possible.

* * *

_Wow… so… how's everyone's year been? _

_For months after I finished the last chapter I would open this document, stare at my outline and decide it just wasn't working. Then, tonight, I looked again for the first time in a long time (pms/reviews/emails always make me check, even if they're not about a specific story… it's a guilt thing, I think) and it suddenly seemed so easy! I figured I'd better hop on it while my mind was willing. _

_**Reviews are love!**__ Hopefully it won't be another year. Sorry again!_


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